Needing Me
by Megatron's Blackfire
Summary: He was all alone. She needed someone to talk to. Maybe organics weren't as bad as they seemed. Movieverse No pairings
1. Chapter 1

Needing Me

Needing Me

He was all alone now. Empty. Lacking. They were gone, all of his creations, gone. Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw had been destroyed at Tyger Pax, Ratbat on the fourth planet of the red giant star Exus 10, Rumble had perished when he had returned from a mission without the information that Starscream had wanted. Ravage had lasted up until they landed on this dirtball of a planet, finally succumbing to old wounds that had been grating against his internals for eons. And Frenzy, the only creation that he had trusted to the care of another, had been killed under said Decepticon's oldfactory sensor.

He was so alone. He didn't have a cause to fight for anymore; Megatron was dead, along with his brother Blackout. He couldn't sense any other Decepticon energy signal, so they all must be dead or have fled the planet. So, he was alone, alone with only his growing despair and misery. Most would have called him sparkless, cold, unfeeling, but those few that truly knew him would say otherwise. Blackout always joked that he was the most feeling Decepticon around, but only to those that he loved; his creations and his brother. Everyone else, however, could roast in the Pit for all he cared.

Megatron had sought him out because of his creations abilities. They were the perfect spies, but of course, mischievous as they came. No matter how many times he scolded them, warned them that the others wouldn't stand for such things, they continued, laughing as they raced back to him to hide. He protected them of course, fighting off whoever was dumb enough to follow them. But, as each one passed on into the Matrix, he felt a bit of his resolve go with them. Then his strength just left him when he felt Frenzy's spark disappear forever.

How long had he stayed here brooding to himself? Alone in some fleshbag infested lot, surrounded by their vehicles. He blended in so well that no one bothered to question where he had come from. He watched the stupid flesh creatures walk by, some admiring him, others scoffing at his "fuel efficiency", or rather lack thereof. Stupid fleshbags; they honestly thought his body was as disgustingly wasteful as their pathetic designs. He would never stand for such things; one had to use whatever resources they had to survive and not waste it for useless functions.

He was just thankful that none of the stupid organic blobs had considered taking him home with them. Not that he would have allowed them to; he was not having some pile of flesh and bone sitting inside of him. Primus would he fragged in the head before that happened.

"Well, what about this model?" A male voice asked, snapping him out of his musing for the day. The owner of the lot was standing beside another male with graying hair and dark brown eyes. Disgusting.

"Well, it certainly looks like it's in good shape." The strange male replied, walking around his frame. "Nice colour too. Don't find too many that are this dark of blue with golden trim on them unless they are custom built."

"Well, this could be your lucky day." The owner replied with a grin. "Been sitting here for a while collecting dust." Liar, he repelled dust and refused to let the blasted junk get into his systems.

"And I'm sure a small dealership like yours has been washing him every day?" The stranger asked, his tone echoing his thoughts.

"But of course!" The owner lied again. "Like to keep all of my cars in top working condition." Sure, that's why all the others piles of scrape are rusting away and look like they were just uncovered from the desert.

"Hmm," the stranger replied, "I'll take your word for it." He replied. "Well, I think I'll take it."

"Excellent!" The owner laughed. No it wasn't! "Let's go inside and sign the forms and you can take this little beauty home with you."

He wasn't going, forget it. These stupid fleshbags were out of their organic minds if they thought that he was going to let them take him away without a fight. He had set his tires down here and he was staying here. There was no way that he was…curse those humans and their keys. While had he had been busy snarling to himself, that new human had somehow opened his door and started his engine without him realizing.

They were flying down the human highway now. He hated to admit it, but he was happy to be moving. The human kept patting his dashboard and he was so tempted to pitch him headfirst out the door. Like he wanted his filthy organic appendages touching him, a superior being. But, he supposed the flesh beast could be of some use; he had gotten him to leave the confinements of that disgusting hole of a piece of land. And he must have been very impressive if he had managed it without alerting him to his presence.

They drove for over an hour before they turned off the highway and down onto a side road that led to a small suburban neighbourhood. The human continued to drive down the road until he turned right at a sign that read "Poplar Drive". Another minute passed before he started slowing down and turned into a driveway that had a small mailbox that had the word "Campbell" written on it. The human drove into a small parking garage before turning the "vehicle" off and stepping out.

"There, no to make sure that snoopy little sweetheart of mine doesn't come looking in here." The human male laughed. "Not exactly a Porsche, but I'm sure she'll love ya just the same." He added as he patted the driver side door.

With that, the male turned and left the garage. He snorted to himself. Not only did this fleshbag appear to think that he owned him, but he was going to give him to his lover too. How absolutely disgusting! He was not letting some organic glitch sit in him, never! It was absolutely unthinkable! His standards would never allow such a thing to occur! He would never, ever allow some fleshling to occupy HIS seats! Never!

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That night, he was plagued by visions of the incidents that took his creations from him. Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw's final screams of pain echoed through his mind as their wings were torn from their bodies and they fell into the raging inferno below them as the buildings crumpled. The sight of their melted frames tore his spark apart again, reopening wounds he had tried to heal shut. The only part of their bodies that had helped to identify them was their head and the fact that Lazerbeak had reached out with his foot and grabbed hold of Buzzsaw's just before they died. It was the only consolation for the pain; they hadn't died alone.

Ratbat's body collided with the grenade as it sailed towards them, giving up his own life to save the others. His head rolled across the ground and stopped at his feet, his mouth opened in an eternal scream of pain. They found the rest of his body scattered across the barren landscape, each piece tearing into his spark with more brutality that Megatron's own flail and claws. He had died painfully and it could have been prevented if he hadn't told him to eject to help fight. If he had just brought Rumble, Frenzy, and Ravage out, Ratbat could have been spared.

Rumble screamed in pain as Starscream tore his limbs off. He was being held back by the other two Seekers while Blackout was chained up to prevent him from interfering. Energon was pooling around his purple frame, dripping from his mutilated body, flying out of his mouth as he coughed it up. Starscream laughed the whole time, calling Rumble names, insulting him, his creator, his deceased brothers, anything that came to mind. Rumble let out a garbled cry of pain as he locked optics with him as he struggled pitifully against Thundercracker and Skywarp.

"I'm…sorry…Dad." He whispered before Starscream ripped his head clean off before tearing his chest plate open and crushing the dimly pulsating spark between his claws.

Ravage growled weakly as his back legs refused to hold his weight. He crawled forward, determined to reach his smoldering form as he quickly left his protoform mode and reassumed his bipedal form. He picked his only remaining creation up, holding him close to his chest plate, silently begging him to hold on. Ravage purred weakly, licking the glass on his chest compartment before letting his head fall onto his arm as his back started sparking from a wound that had reopened upon landing.

'_Forgive me, Creator.'_ He whispered over their bond. _'I do not have the strength left to continue. I...I fear it is time to say good-bye.'_

He held his eldest creation close to his chest compartment, begging him to fight, to remain. His processor told him that it was useless to beg, that Ravage had fought long enough, but his spark couldn't bear the thought of losing yet another of his creations. He watched as Ravage gave one final intake of air before he went limp in his arms and his spark went out, forever. He let his head fall back as a wail of agony left him, cursing the Autobots for doing this, cursing Starscream for dragging the search on for so long, and even cursing Megatron for leaving that fool in charge.

He had to hurry, Frenzy was so close! He could hear his spark pulsating, whirling with excitement as he closed in on the humans left in the Hoover Dam. He shared his final creation's enthusiasm; all these disgusting pile of organic matter deserved to be crushed under their feet. He would help of course, but he would let Frenzy have his fun. Just as he was getting closer to the Hoover Dam, close enough to actually see it, he felt his spark grow cold.

'_Oh shit.'_ Frenzy's voice echoed through the bond before it went silent and the final connection leading into his spark faded away like it had never existed.

His scream of disbelief and anguish echoed around the rocks and out across the river leading to the Hoover Dam, bouncing back to mock him as he sent himself toppling over into the ditch beside the road in shock.

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He woke up from recharge with a jolt, panting as he scanned the area around him. Right, he was in a human's garage and those images were just of the past, something he couldn't change. He let out a low sigh of relief, sinking down onto his tires. As much as he hated what had happened, he was relieved that they were not happening again. They images were just too horrid.

He immediately straightened up as he heard voices.

"No, you can't peek." He heard the male human laugh.

The door to the garage opened up and he came in leading a young human female in, covering her eyes and grinning happily. That was his sweetspark?! A YOUNGLING?! How absolutely revolting!

"Ok, you can look now." The male laughed as he pulled his hands away from the young female's eyes.

He watched as her facial expression went from confusion to slight repulsion quickly. "You…bought me a Hummer?" She demanded.

"You bet." The male chuckled. "You are always complaining that the car that we have won't fit all of your stuff. This baby will fit everything." He added as he patted his hood.

The youngling's face twisted slightly before she sighed. "Alright, I guess I could live with it." She stated. "It's just going to eat my money up with the amount of gas it's going to take to fill it up." She muttered.

Stupid flesh brat.

She walked over to the male and hugged him. "Thanks Dad."

Dad? Oh, so the femme was his creation! Well, that made more sense than being his bonded mate. He scolded himself for jumping to conclusions like that; the identity of the mystery femme should have been so obvious. Slag him for not paying attention. He became aware of the light source vanishing before his door opened and the youngling climbed into his front seat.

"Guess I got stuck with you huh?" She asked, obviously not expecting a response. She let out a groan before she hit her head against the steering wheel. She hissed bitterly. "I said my stuff didn't fit in their car! I didn't mean I wanted one! Hell, what am I supposed to do with you? I just moved here! It's not like I have any friends!"

Why did this human think that he cared about her pathetic life? And why was she sitting in him? He wanted her out, now, but he wasn't about to reveal himself; that would get him a one-way ticket to the smelter. The Autobots practically had total control of this planet and would be in the vicinity within moments.

The femme was stroking his dashboard. "You poor thing; you probably don't want to be here. Rather be wasting away in some landfill somewhere." She muttered. "I'd like to be there. I mean, my dad's great and all, but he's trying to get me to like him too much."

He didn't care. Let the femme talk to herself, wasn't his problem. As soon as he could figure out a way out of here, he'd be happy. He felt something slid into the ignition and had to bite back the surprised yelp.

"Dad left the keys in the cup holder." She muttered. "He's asking for something like this to get stolen." She turned the key over and he allowed his engine to start up. "May as well take you for a spin; not like I have anything better to do." She added before she hopped out to open the garage door.

Foolish brat. Like he was just going to let her…what was wrong with him? There they were, backing out of the garage, down the driveway, onto the road, and heading towards the metropolitan sector! Why wasn't he stopping himself? Why was he letting this…this…filth drive him?! And yet, in spite of his disgust, he found it rather amusing, almost like an out-of-body experience. The femme obviously knew how to drive, although the foot that she had on the gas pedal was slightly heavy. He eased it up slowly, just so that she wouldn't notice as much; he didn't want to take a turn to fast and end up on his side or end up rolling; that would be painful.

The femme turned into a building with a large B and K with a strange meat in two pieces of wheat. Upon further investigation using the Internet, he discovered that the place was called "Burger King" and was chock full of chemicals that were not extremely good for a human body. Why she was pulling in here was beyond…oh…there were other humans here.

"Time to bite the bullet." She muttered before she parked him in backwards, twisting around to see out the back window, and turned him off. "Wish me luck."

Luck…wait…did he just think that? He watched the femme walk off, one hand holding the other arm in an obvious display of nervousness. Strange, she seemed to be confident when she was talking to him. He watched as she stopped in front of some tables filled with other femmes. He couldn't quite hear them, but he could hear the odd, shy tone that had entered her voice.

Maybe if he sent…oh wait…Lazerbeak…never mind. Maybe if he turned up the sensitivity on his audio receptors…there, now he could hear them.

"And who are you?" One of the other femme's demanded, tilting her head back and sneering.

"I'm Caraden." His femme replied. Wait, his? "I just moved here."

The femme seemed to sneer more. "And you thought you could just join us?"

The femme, Caraden if his audios were correct, stiffened. "Oh, sorry." She replied, a hard tone entering her voice. "I wasn't aware that this town had cliques."

"Yeah." The femme snapped, flipping long, yellow hair behind her.

"Let me take a guess at which clique this is." Caraden asked. When the other femme snorted, she grinned. "The Bitches." She sneered before she turned and walked away, leaving the girls sitting surprised and angry.

"Did she just call me a bitch?" The yellow haired girl demanded. "That bitch! I'm going to show her a thing or two!"

Caraden had approached another table, this one contained two young males, one of which currently had one of the meat and wheat stuck down his throat, and a young female. They were a little surprised by her but smiled in return. The young male started making gestures behind her, trying to get the chunk of food down his throat.

"Behind you!" He choked.

She turned at the last second and ducked just in time to avoid getting hit with a purse.

"How dare you have called ME a bitch!" The yellow haired femme screamed as she took another swing at her.

"Well, you certainly aren't helping your image!" Caraden yelped.

"You miserable little…."

"Just shut up, Becca!" The other female snapped as she stood up and snatched the bag away. "She's new here and you act like you're the top dog or something. You tease a dog, it will bite you back."

Becca grinned. "Well, Mikaela, you just confirmed it; she is a bitch." She sneered.

Caraden looked shocked before she growled. "Yeah, and guess what? This bitch is ready to bite."

Becca's internal reactions gave off fear, but she stuck her nose in the air and took her purse back from Mikaela. "I have better things to do than spay this dumb bitch." She snapped before walking off.

Caraden rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Well, that's a beautiful way to start my school year here; I already made an enemy."

He chuckled to himself. This little femme was quite amusing; perhaps he would stay, if only to keep himself entertained.

**Author's note:** And it's another story…this one's going to be short though. Just a little something to help make everything a little easier on me since everything is making me freak out. Like the girl's name? I like it, not sure if it's original or not though…anyways, I know that the mech who is the Hummer is very obvious, but still, can you guess who it is?


	2. School Routine

Chapter 2 School Routine

Chapter 2 School Routine

He mentally groaned in disgust. The organic brat Caraden's female creator was leaking a combination of dihydrogen monoxide and other various dissolved salts down her face as Caraden placed a bag of some sort in his passenger seat. The older femme was going on about "her little girl growing up so fast" and it appeared to be annoying Caraden as much as it was annoying him. She walked around the front of his alt mode, patting his hood almost tenderly, before hauling herself up into the driver's seat and buckling up her seat belt. She was grumbling about early morning, "stupid alarm clock that wont turn off", and "third year nightmare", before she turned his engine over. He grinned to himself as she patted his dashboard, her way of praising him for being good since his model was apparently very temperamental.

"I'll be home around 3." She called out the window as she backed them out of the driveway.

"Have fun, sweetheart!" The older femme called out.

Caraden groaned as they drove down the road. "Have fun." She grumbled. "Sure, grade 11, no friends, enemies already, and a giant tank of a car! What could possibly go wrong?"

'I agree.' He grumbled to himself. If things weren't bad enough, he was almost acting like this human's pet! Only, at least he was wagging a tail and nuzzling up against her leg like the "Pomeranian" was. She sighed before patting his dashboard again, something that he had come to accept rather than fume about. The action was a sign of affection, if his research had been correct, and it was something that he could understand; humans and Transformers alike needed something to hold onto, even if they believed it to be inanimate.

"But it's not your fault, eh big guy?" She asked gently, her voice low and tinged with concealed enjoyment. "You didn't choose to be so freakishly huge." She added with a small smile.

'And you didn't choose to be weak, pathetic, and a bane to my existence, did you, flesh-brat?' He grumbled to himself, although he enjoyed being called "big guy"; Rumble and Frenzy had often called him that as opposed to "father" or "boss", and it was nice that she thought of him as a male instead of as a female like so many other of her species.

It was a peaceful drive to wherever they were going and gave him plenty of time to reflect on everything that had occurred in the last few weeks. In the time that he had been with the femme, he had behaved, playing the songs that she popped into his built in CD-player; surprisingly, she had very good taste in music; he didn't break down on purpose in front of the mall so her whole family had to walk home, and not wasting the cheap, primitive gas that she pumped into his fuel tank. She seemed to appreciate his fuel economy as she only filled his tank once since she "got" him; he was conserving his fuel for much more essential things and staying in his alt. mode helped to conserve it better. Also, the carwashes on the weekends were enjoyable; she seemed to like his paintjob to "glow", (how dark colours glowed was beyond him), and she was good at getting all the dirt out of his frame, as well as giving his body a nice, relaxing wax afterwards. Perhaps, after all things considered, she wasn't that bad of a fleshling.

He felt his wheels turning into a parking lot filled with other cars, trucks, and human adolescents and came back to reality with a soft rumbled of his engine, alerting every one of the stupid blobs to get out of his way. She maneuvered him into a parking space and turn off his engine before her hands tightened on the steering wheel. Her fear was being broadcasted loudly into his mind, and he was surprised that all the other humans couldn't sense it as well. He mentally rolled his optics before he gently manipulated her mind to calm down, breath, and relax. He felt her panic slowly subside and she exhaled.

"Well, time to go." She murmured before she grabbed the bag in the other seat, opened the door, locked it, hopped out, and slammed the door quite roughly. "Sorry." She murmured as she touched his hood before walking away.

A loud siren sounded from the building, causing him to jump slightly. All the adolescences walked into the building, forming groups ranging from two to ten individuals, talking loudly and ignoring one lone youngling; Caraden. She released a small breath that he had learned meant that she was unhappy about something, before walking into the building. Flipping on his infrared scanner, he followed her heat signature around the building. She didn't seem to be in a rush, unlike some of the other human younglings who were shoving her aside and racing down the corridors, and she was dragging her feet slightly as she entered one of the rooms that many of the other flesh-brats had gone into. He could almost see a repeat of the incident at the Burger King as she entered the room. He might not have liked her that much, but he would have hated to see her harmed; her creators wouldn't look after him while she was recovering.

He watched her sit down in one of the desks and lean forward over the top. An older mech stood up at the front of the room and appeared to be speaking. Most of the other brats were sitting as well, all facing the mech, although some were giving Caraden some looks. However, since he couldn't truly see their faces with his infrared on, he could only guess at what was on their minds, as they were also out of his range of "hearing". In that moment of though, he realized that this must be what passed as Earth's form of education. He settled down on his tires, decided to grab a few cycles of recharge; Primus only knew how long this day would last. He noticed a small, yellow car with black stripes running across the hood parked a few rows over, but paid it no mind as he slipped into recharge; it wasn't like it was an Autobot.

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He woke several hours later to a feeling of hands touching his hood. He onlined his optics quickly and almost sighed in relief; Caraden had her hand on his hood, stroking it in a slow motion, almost like she was in a trance of some kind. Her head was down and her shoulders were shaking slightly, as well as more of the liquid dihydrogen monoxide leaking down her face and dripping onto his hood.

"That stupid, stupid, girl!" She muttered through her teeth.

He mentally lifted an optic ridge before beginning to search through her mind for the answer. He watched the scene play through her mind and felt his spark twinge in pity for her. Something had been given to them as an assignment, something to do with their male creators. She had gone to the teacher after the class had ended and asked to be exempt because she didn't know anything about her father and that she had only known her "step-dad" for 3 months. One of femmes in the class had heard her and sneered about it not being an excuse, and that she could call her real dad to talk to him.

It had turned into a verbal throw down between the two femmes, Caraden trying to be as polite as she could about the matter and the other femme snarling about her being stupid, in a rather colourful display of vulgar words. It got to the point where the other femme called her father a coward, an idiot, and a pathetic excuse for a man. He watched as her interior disintegrated while she tried to hold face.

"My dad was killed in a car crash when I was two." She had snarled in reply. "A drunk driver cut him off and sent him off the road into a tree!"

The other femme's face brightened in surprise and her mouth opened, but the scene changed as Caraden rushed out of the room. He came back to reality with a soft sigh of his engine as she pressed the key into his ignition and started his engine up. He watched her as the liquid ran down her face and she drove them out of the parking lot, followed by the yellow car with three other younglings.

She took a different route than the one that led to her home. He knew that her mind was in turmoil, but he could sense that she was heading somewhere very particular. He watched as the town slipped away and instead a softly twisting road took its place. She came to a stop on a look-out point next to a large tree before turning him off. She climbed out and walked to the edge before collapsing, leaning against his grill as she sniffled.

"Mom said he use to bring her up here all the time." She whispered. "He…he loved to share the sunset with her." He felt her shudder before her voice broke. "That's why we moved away; Mom hated being here without him. Said it was like having a knife cut through her every time she saw one of the sunsets."

He felt a part of his spark reach out for her; he knew what it was like to be near a place that brought back memories of the ones he loved. It stung to hear her sniffling and leaking over this fact, but what confused him was why she was crying over it. If she never knew her male creator, and the one that had bought him for her was a "step-father" (whatever that was), then why was she so hurt? Shouldn't she not know or have any feelings for the mech she didn't know? It didn't make any sense.

"She…she said that he never stopped talking about how he would be the greatest dad." She murmured as she seemed to inhale at the same time. "He wanted to be there for everything…but…but that drunk…he hit him."

He didn't need to hear anymore; her mind was just about screaming it at him. The police had told her mother that the driver of the other vehicle was intoxicated. They had tried to pass going 40 miles over the speed limit, turned back into the lane too fast, smashed the side into the side of his car, and sent him flying off the road, into the ditch, and into a tree. They were sure that he had been killed upon impact, but, they couldn't be sure. It had been hours before they had gotten to the scene, and by then, he was dead.

"I never even got to know him." She whispered before her fist connected with his grill, causing him to flinch slightly. "What the hell gave that drunk ass the right to take his life?!" She screamed as she turned away. "What gave him the right?!"

He watched as she slumped forward, crying, and her breath coming in painful gasps. He wanted to make her feel better, why, he wasn't sure, but it was something that he felt he had to do. But not now, not while she was so close and could easily be harmed by his body as he transformed. Instead, he let his mind subtly embrace her, calm her down until her gasps were mere sniffles.

She looked up, watching the sky before she stood up. "I…I should head home." She muttered before she climbed back inside him.

He paused before he grinned internally and moved his dial. "I'll Be There For You" started playing gently. She glanced at the radio with a frown but shrugged it off. She pulled into her driveway a half hour later, her mother waiting for her. She came running out, shouting about how worried she was and, when she got close enough, asked why she was crying. Caraden shook her head and told her not to worry about it. The yellow car drove past, seemed to pause momentarily just at the end of the driveway, before continuing on.

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He logged onto the internet and tried to find the chat site that Caraden was on. He smiled as he found it and found her username "Homegirl245" and opened a conversation with her.

'Hello.' He sent.

'Hello.' She replied. 'Any reason you decided to talk to me?'

'Just a feeling.' He replied with a chuckle as he typed. 'You seemed to be lonely, in my opinion.'

'You're good.' She replied. 'But, please tell me you aren't some old man who's stalking me.'

'I won't deny that I'm old, but I'm not stalking you.' He replied, smiling to himself.

'Ok, I'll take your word for it.' She replied. 'So, what made you decide to call yourself, "DJ Soundmaster"?'

'Well, I've always had a love for music.' He replied. 'So, why not take a name that has to do with it?'

'Well, I can see the logic behind it!' She replied, adding an "lol" at the end, which he discovered meant "laugh out loud".

'So, what made you decide to call yourself "Homegirl245"?' He asked in return.

'I'm back in the town that I grew up in.' She replied. 'Not that it's any of your business, no offense.'

'None taken. None taken.' He replied. 'Just curious, that's all.'

'Ok.' She replied, adding the "lol" again.

He didn't know how long they talked for, but slowly, he discovered that there was more to her than he had originally anticipated. She wasn't used to having a male figure in her life since her mother had raised her. Only in the past year had she had any sort of male presence in her house, and most of the time it was only for a few short hours during one of her mother's and boyfriend's dates. She had called him "dad" because it made her mother feel better, and when her mom was happy, she was happy.

'Well, it's getting late.' She stated. 'I've got to get to bed.'

'Yes, you'll need it.' He replied, adding an "lol" just for safe measures.

'Good night.' She typed before her status changed to offline.

He smiled to himself. 'Yes, good night, Caraden.' He murmured to himself before settling down for recharge. It wasn't that bad to offer support to her, even though it was only because he felt pity for her. Yes, pity for her pathetic existence as a weak and squishy human. He was still a Decepticon and would not allow some weak little half-witted pest change him.

**Author's note:** Hey, sorry for the long wait everyone! Schools been hectic and I've been feeling really lazy. I'll try to update more often! So, is there anything that you'd like to see Soundwave do for Caraden? Since he pities her for losing her father, just like he lost his Cassettes, he's going to be a little nicer. Anything anyone suggests to me will be taken into consideration. So, leave a review please, they're much appreciated.


	3. Halloween Dance

Chapter 3 Halloween Dance

He grimaced slightly as the girl in his passenger seat squealed in delight. "Oh my god! Caraden, are you seeing this?!" She demanded, her big brown eyes bright with excitement.

"Valerie, I'm kinda trying to drive." Caraden replied, shooting the other girl a teasing smile. "What is it that's got you so excited?"

"Look! It's a Lamborghini!" Valerie squealed, pointing through his windshield at the red sports car in front of them.

Caraden's jaw fell open. "Holy sweet Josephine! That is one hot ride!" She agreed. "Wonder whose car that is?"

"I'll ask around today." Valerie replied as Caraden turned into the school parking lot behind the Lamborghini. "Someone's bound to know who it belongs to, right?"

Caraden nodded as she backed into their normal parking space. "Yeah, something that expensive stands out in a little town like this." She agreed before she turned off the engine and reached into the back seat for her backpack. "Come on, we promise Mikaela that we'd help her and Sam figure out how that second Cosine law works."

"Right." Valerie agreed. "I'm happy that that friend of yours knows what to do with that thing; Mr. Rodrigus sure didn't explain it very well."

"Yeah, at least DJ Soundwave knew how to tone it down from genius to stupid for me." Caraden laughed.

"He changed his name again?" Valerie asked as she tried to get her purse out from underneath the seat.

"Yeah, said something about Soundmaster being less flattering than Soundwave." Caraden replied before she lifted an eyebrow. "Left, chicky." She directed, helping her friend fish out her purse. "I thought I told you to stop leaving it under the seat?"

"I didn't! I had it in the basket, and it fell out." Valerie replied before she hopped out the door. "Honestly, I swear this thing is alive sometimes."

"You should see it when I give it a wash. Honestly, I swear it shudders on its wheels when I'm cleaning the hood." Caraden laughed as they moved off towards the door to the school, heading for the library where Sam and Mikaela were waiting for them.

It was funny to him how friendships work sometimes; Valerie had been the femme that had insulted Caraden's father on the first day of school. After class the next day, Valerie had approached Caraden and apologized profoundly, trying to explain that her father had run out on her mother when she had been young so that's all that she thought of men who left their wives; cowards and losers. Caraden had forgiven her, replying that she understood where Valerie stood. Valerie had then invited her out to get some supper at the nearest fast food place, which turned out to be Burger King, and they had started chatting away.

After that, the two had been inseparable. They did their homework together, went out on the weekend for small shopping sprees, cruises in the countryside, and chatted with each other on the net. It surprised him just how much the two of them could talk in one day; for one hour straight they had chatted about the mech that sat in front of Valerie in their math class, someone by the name of Trent.

The two of them were great friends and understood almost everything about each other. The only thing that Valerie didn't understand is why Caraden insisted on giving him a wash every weekend, especially since winter and snow where approaching quickly. Caraden didn't see the point of the every weekend shopping sprees, but put up with them. She did enjoy shopping, but she had a tolerance for only 2 hours at a time. But, they were pretty good with working around things that caused trouble.

He sighed slightly as he sank down on his tires, ready to take a stasis-nap to pass the time. They would probably turn up at lunch to sit on his hood and chat again, dragging Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes along as well. He was ready to fall asleep, when a police cruiser went flying past, sirens screaming as it gave chase to a green jeep. He grumbled mentally before watching the pair drive past, growing increasingly annoyed with the idiotic rules of humans. He settled down again, still grumbling to himself before he slipped into recharge.

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He snorted slightly as he felt two people slide into his front seats. He groggily onlined his internal sensors and blinked several times at Caraden and Valerie. They were both excited about something, something that had to do with Trent.

"I can't believe he asked you out!" Valerie squealed, stinging his audios slightly.

"I know! I didn't even know he noticed me!" Caraden agreed as she started his engine. "I mean, really, what's to notice about me?"

"Beats me, no offense." Valerie giggled. "You and me look like your average brunettes with big brown eyes."

Caraden chuckled slightly before she pulled out of her parking spot and started heading towards Valerie's house. "Yeah, point taken. Just your average Jane." She agreed.

Valerie nodded quickly before grinning. "So, what are you going to the dance as?" She asked, her brown eyes sparkling.

"I was thinking as going as a demon girl." She replied.

"Think I should go as a kitty?" Valerie asked.

"No." Caraden snapped. "Valerie, we've been over this."

"I know," Valerie laughed. "I just wanted to know what you were going to say."

Caraden groaned slightly before shaking her head. "Valerie, that was not funny." She muttered before she pulled into the drive and up behind the black Mustang.

"I know, sorry." Valerie laughed gently before hopping out. "I'll be over at 6 to help you get ready, kay?"

"6:30; mom has a big supper planned tonight and she wants me to help get everything set up for the kids tonight." Caraden replied.

Valerie nodded. "Got it, 6:30." She replied before she waved. "See ya later!"

Caraden waved good-bye before she backed out of the driveway and headed home. She reached for the dial on the radio, tapping the steering wheel slightly as she searched through the channels for something to listen to. She muttered as a few song played, complaining about them being overplayed and annoying. She finally stopped at a slow beat song, humming along quietly as it played, and tapping gently on the steering wheel again.

She sighed slightly before she smiled. "I can't believe it." She stated out loud. "Trent actually asked me out, me! Can you believe it, big guy?" She asked, patting his dash board. She looked out the windshield again as she pulled into the driveway, parking him in front of the garage door like she had for the past few weeks. She turned him off before grabbing her backpack and heading inside.

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He snorted slightly as he watched Valerie pull up in her black Mustang, parking it beside him. She stepped out, throwing a bag over her shoulder and quickly striding up to the door. She knocked on the door quickly, giggling slightly as it opened. "Trick-or-treat."

"Oh, hello Valerie." Caraden's mother laughed as she stepped aside. "Caraden's upstairs trying to find her heels. You know how messy her room is."

"I'll head upstairs and give her a hand then." Valerie laughed as she stepped into the house.

He snorted to himself as he flipped on his infrared vision and followed her upstairs into Caraden's room, where the heat signature that indicated the other femme was on the floor beside her bed, reaching underneath it in search for her wayward heels. Valerie helped her find them before they started getting ready. He watched as Valerie pulled something out of her bag and plugged it into the wall.

He rolled his optics slightly before he paused. He knew he heard a snort beside him and a grumble of annoyance. He stilled his spark slightly, listening intently to see if he could hear anything. "Stupid humans and their holidays." A male voice muttered. "Honestly, I should be out on patrols, not letting that glitch drive me around."

He felt his fuel-pump freeze as he recognized the voice; Barricade. He wanted to transform and pound the other mech into the ground for letting his creation get killed. He wanted him to feel his wrath for letting his creation die when he had trusted him with Frenzy. How dare that little insignificant…wait…was he threatening HIS Caraden?

"And that stupid organic glitch friend of hers, she'll pay too. Tonight…I'll do it tonight. No one will know what happened…lost control of the car…crashed into a tree…no one would be able to tell the difference." He chuckled lowly.

No, not his Caraden. Caraden…no, he needed that youngling, she was his…no, just a good human that looked after him. Not like a creation or like a charge, just a human that he happened to appreciate looking after him, since he was currently stuck in an Autobot run world. He could not let Barricade kill either of them…it was in his programming, whether he accepted it or not, to protect younglings and sparklings, whether or not they were Decepticons didn't matter. He had to protect them, he had to.

He waited a few more hours, watching them sparingly as they got dressed and prepared for their dance. A few sparklings wearing strange disguises came trooping up to the door, shouting "trick-or-treat" when the door opened and received sugar filled treats into bags before laughing, saying thank-you and running off down the driveway. He chuckled mentally; sparklings were so lively almost anywhere they appear. He glanced up as he heard two giggles sweep towards him and he grinned.

Valerie and Caraden were walking down the front steps wearing huge coats to cover their costumes. Caraden had a set of devil horns hidden in her brown hair, which was almost impossibly straight for once, along with red contacts in to give her almost red coloured eyes. There was a light sprinkling of red face make-up across her nose and cheeks, making them appear warm and flushed. Valerie had a halo on a stick tucked neatly into her hair. She had managed to get her normally light brown eyes to become blue, thanks to a pair of contacts, and had fake eyelashes on.

They were talking incredibly fast to one another, Valerie fishing through her purse looking for her car keys and he felt himself freeze. At that exact moment, Caraden stopped walking. Her body had tensed up and her eyes had widened slightly. Valerie stopped and turned to look at her.

"Cara, you ok?" She asked. "You look spooked."

Caraden shook her head. "Vale…I don't think…I don't think we should take your car." She replied.

"What do you mean?" Valerie asked, giving her friend an odd look. "I thought we wanted to arrive in style?"

"I know…but…something…it just doesn't feel right." Caraden replied. "I'm no believer in the supernatural, well, maybe in God and all, but…I swear there's something really sinister about your car for some reason. Like…it wants us dead."

Valerie stopped, tilting her head to the side for a moment before she shivered. "Holy shit! I feel that too! Oh god that's creepy." She whimpered as she stepped away from Barricade. "Why would this suddenly happen?"

"I don't know, but I really want to get into Big Blue right now." Caraden replied as she walked briskly past Barricade's parked form and hopped into the front seat, fishing the spare keys out from under the cup-holder. Valerie was in the passenger seat within a spark-pulse, eyeing Barricade nervously.

"That thing is creepy." She muttered. "Why would it just suddenly want to kill me?"

"I don't know, but I suggest an exorcist." Caraden replied as she pulled out of the driveway and started driving towards the school. "That was so creepy." She muttered. "It was like this sudden coldness just drifted through me and it screamed that your car wanted me dead."

"Yeah, that happened to me too." Valerie murmured. "And it was like…I don't know…a protective feeling, you know? Like something wanted us to know and to make a safer choice."

Caraden frowned and bit her lip. "Do you think…maybe…my dad…?"

"I don't know. I've never seen a ghost before, but, who knows." Valerie replied.

He snickered to himself before he flipped the dial and started playing the "Ghostbusters'" theme song. Caraden and Valerie yelped in shock before they groaned. "I really need to get this radio checked out." Caraden joked before they started laughing and singing.

"Ghostbusters!" They both shouted at the same time.

They laughed, quickly getting over their fear and starting to talk about the upcoming dance. Valerie wanted to dance with as many boys as she could before the night was out, while Caraden was content just to not trip over her own two feet; she claimed that she couldn't dance the hula without tripping over them. Valerie claimed that she could help her learn quickly, but Caraden refused; she wanted Valerie to still have her toes. He chuckled to himself as he listened to them; it was amazing how little things amused these lifeforms.

The two of them started chatting in excitement, discussing what they thought was going to happen at the dance. They both hoped it had good songs playing, new ones and the classics that never seemed to get old; something called "Caramalldansen" seemed to send the two of them into a fit of giggles. He rolled his optics slightly, giving a soft rumble of his engine in mirth; why did laughter have to be so contagious? They pulled into the parking lot of the high school, admits the honks of other cars trying to get a small yellow car to hurry up and back up.

"Looks like Sam's car stalled." Valerie commented.

"No…he just parked in the middle of the ro…oh…Miles should move his butt." Caraden muttered, glaring at the blond male that was currently hugging the bumper of the yellow car. He grumbled under the noise of his idling engine before he blared his horn, startling everyone and making the blond male fall off the bumper and run. "Well…that worked…," Caraden muttered as they started moving forward.

They parked quickly across from the yellow car, waving to Sam and Mikaela through the windshield. The couple walked over, Sam's arm wrapped tightly around Mikaela's waist, as Caraden turned off his engine and hopped out the door. "Was that you who laid on the horn?" Sam asked.

Caraden shrugged. "I must have been leaning on it, sorry." She apologized as she gave Mikaela a hug. "Get trig now?" She asked.

"Sorta." Sam muttered. "I still can't wrap my mind around it all. But, math has NEVER been my best subject."

Caraden nodded in agreement before they all moved towards the gym, chatting away happily as most younglings did. He mentally sighed as he watched them, happy that a lose of younglings' lives had been avoided. He was about to sink down onto his tires for a small recharge cycle when a horn honked. He snapped back to attention and put his sensors on high alert. All of the humans had headed into the gym, which was now shaking from the loud music that was echoing around inside of it.

The horn honked again, drawing his attention to the little yellow car parked across from him. He was about to growl and continue to look when he caught a thought wave coming from the car.

'Idiot.' The thought rolled through his mind. 'Why am I even bothering? It's not like it's even alive. Stupid car.'

He revved his engine angrily before flashing his headlights on and blinding the other car, making it yelp in surprise. He dimmed his headlights as the little car shuddered slightly. Its engine turned over and it drove out of its space, pausing at his fender.

"Follow me." It stated quietly before it started to drive away.

He frowned before he drove out of his space and followed the car. It seemed nervous as they drove, always staying ahead of him more than what was necessary. He was leading him out of town, away from the younglings currently under his protection. He had every thought to turn around, but he started sensing other thoughts, most of them confused and angry. They must have known that he was coming, but do they know that it was _him_? The yellow car led him to the lookout point and parked himself beside a large black truck. He pulled up, backing himself in slightly so that he was facing the crowd of vehicles.

"So, you're the Hummer that Bumblebee's been telling us about." A deep voice issued from the flame covered semi-truck that was parked farther ahead than the rest.

He grunted lowly, revving his engine in annoyance. "I don't trust him." A cop car muttered, revving its own engine angrily. "Something's off about it."

"Yeah, like Decepticon off." A male voice grumbled, the jeep that he had seen earlier in the day shuddering.

Voices agreed with the comment and he snorted to himself, shaking himself slightly; like he cared what these Autobots thought. The large semi silenced the others with a rumble of his engine before he gave the order to transform. He growled to himself; Optimus Prime and his little group of Autobots, why wasn't he surprised?

"You should transform as well." Optimus stayed, motioning to him. "You have been in your alt. mode for a long time."

He growled slightly before he transformed. He felt his back seat shift around, ready to form his chest as his windshield fell down and his head broke out of the mess of wires and plating. He stood up, towering over all of the other mechs as his arms and legs took shape, clutching his clawed hands tightly as his battle mask and visor fell into place. He paused slightly as he heard the gasps from the mechs, even a few whimpers from the younger mechs. He smirked under his face mask before he looked down at Optimus, who looked slightly stunned.

"Designation; Soundwave." He stated in his infamous monotone.

Several of the Autobots twitched, bringing their weapons up and training them on him, ready for anything he might try to do. The cop car, whom he recognized as Prowl, was regarding him coldly, one arm out to keep the black truck, Ironhide, back. The infamous Twin Terrors were struggling against a smaller blue bot who was glaring at him as he held them back. He chuckled coldly as he observed the group; they were truly pathetic; did they really think that he was a threat to this many Autobots?

"Soundwave, what are you doing here?" Optimus demanded, his voice becoming cold and hard.

"Operation; protection." He replied simply.

"Protection? What would he protect?" Ironhide demanded. "I'm telling you Prime, he's trying to resurrect Megatron, just like Barricade!"

He growled, clenching his fists tighter. Surprisingly, the small yellow mech that had been the small yellow car stepped up to protect him. "He's protecting a human femme." He stated. Everyone stared at him like he was insane and he felt a small pang of gratitude for the youngling; no one in their right mind would stand up for the enemy. "No, really, I've been watching him. That femme loves him, even though she has no idea what he really is. She just thinks he's another car."

"Why would he protect a human female?" Ratchet, the green Hummer asked thoughtfully. "Decepticons prefer to step on them."

"I'm not sure why…but he's also been talking on the net with her and her friends, alias DJ Soundwave, as of last night." The mech replied. "Was DJ Soundmaster, but he changed it."

Everyone shot him a confused look and he simply snorted in response. "Caraden is my femme." He replied simply.

"She's what?" Prowl demanded.

"You…have CLAIMED her?" The blue mech demanded with a snobbish accent; great, one of the old aristocrats.

He hissed in disgust. "Negative!" He snarled, shuddering in disgust at what the Autobot was suggesting; like he would want to bond himself with Caraden!

"Then what do you mean?" Prime asked calmly.

He frowned behind his face mask. "Caraden…is…like a youngling." He replied. "She needs to be protected."

Prime let out a small noise as he placed his hand on his chin in a human gesture. Several of the other Autobots were whispering to each other, shooting him glares of mistrust. "Well, this is something to consider." Prime stated as he looked back at him. "Unless you make any other actions that contradict your claims, we are not going to bother you."

He nodded slowly before he looked at the yellow mech. "Valerie." He stated.

The mech frowned as the others looked at each other in confusion. "What's wrong with her?"

"Barricade is masquerading as her vehicle." He replied, causing the others to gasp again. "I would suggest a replacement before he follows through with his plan to kill her."

The yellow mech's optics widened. "We have to do something. Valerie is oblivious to our existence, but she doesn't deserve to be killed by an ill-tempered D-con!"

Prowl frowned. "What style of car is he disguised as?"

"Mustang Saleen S281. Colour scheme, black" He replied.

Prowl nodded simply. "I can replace him tonight. Mirage and I can scare him off after I scan his alt. mode."

"Located at 16 Poplar Drive." He replied, not really caring that they knew where he was staying anymore.

Prowl nodded before he and the blue mech transformed and sped away. He turned back to Prime and the Autobot leader nodded. "Bumblebee, you can return to Sam now." He stated. "And Soundwave…good luck with Caraden." He added, giving him a pitiful look.

He snorted before he turned and transformed, returning to the familiar feel of his Hummer alt. mode and speeding away. Why did that Auto-brat give him pity when it was his fault that his creations were dead?

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He watched as Caraden walked out of the gym with a young mech holding her close to him. His grin looked fake to him, like he wasn't really seeing Caraden, but just a young femme. He growled to himself, as he watched; Bumblebee had given him all the information on him that he knew and he didn't trust the mech. He would love to just transform and stomp him flat before he could touch his Caraden, but he couldn't; he had to remain hidden. Valerie was walking father back, talking with Sam and Mikaela and there was a worried look on her face as she looked at her friend.

"So, tell me babe, do you need a lift home?" Trent asked as they walked closer.

"No, I have a car." Caraden replied, turning to look at him with…was that love in her eyes? No, just a remnant of looking at Trent, that slagface.

Trent frowned, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "This? You have a Hummer?" He asked.

"Yup, this is Big Blue." She stated as she reached out and touched his hood.

"You named it after a boy?" He asked. "Why not a girl?"

"Because he's big and he's badass." She replied simply, patting his hood.

"Well, I was going to ask if you wanted a ride home, but I guess you don't need one." He stated, giving him a dark look.

"Well, I would have denied anyways." Caraden replied as she waved over to Valerie. "I would have gotten a ride from my friend."

Trent frowned before he leant in and gave her a kiss on the cheek, making her blush up brightly. He walked off, muttering slightly under his breath and shooting Sam a death glare before vanishing. Caraden was giggling as she swung herself into the front seat, Valerie climbing on his passenger side.

"You know he's not trustworthy right?" Valerie asked quietly.

"Give him a chance." Caraden stated, her voice oddly airy.

Valerie frowned but remained quiet. They drove home quietly, both unsure of what to say. When they pulled into the driveway, his headlights fell on a black Mustang Saleen and his spark paused for a moment before it returned to normal.

'Hello, Soundwave.' Prowl thought directly to him. 'Let me guess, this is your residence?'

He chuckled mentally, giving Prowl the affirmative as he was parked and shut off. They two girls hopped out, not saying anything still. Valerie spun before she reached Prowl's door and threw her arms around Caraden, causing her to yelp in shock. "Look after yourself, ok?" She asked quietly.

Caraden blinked and smiled before she hugged her friend back. "Of course." She replied.

Valerie pulled back smiling before she quickly got into her "car" and backed out of the driveway. Caraden waved after her, relaxed as she patted his side. "She's a good friend. I'm lucky to have her worrying about me and watching my back." She murmured before she headed inside.

"I'll watch over you as well." He murmured gently.

**Author's note:** And that's chapter three. Soundwave has finally revealed himself, not really caring about the Autobots. Why should he? He could render them all helpless with a single thought! He has to be the strongest Decepticon in existence! Sorry Megatron, but it's true. Anyways, he cares about Caraden, and since Valerie is her friend, then she is protected as well. Barricade was hiding out, but now Prowl has taken over his position and is now protecting Valerie. Well, you can bet something…interesting will happen now that Trent is trying to tempt Caraden. What will happen? Let me know with a review!


	4. Revealed

Chapter 4 Revealed

He sighed as he listened to Caraden get ready for her date with Trent. It was all she had been talking about for the past few days and his patience with the young male was running thin. All he ever saw within his mind when he was near Caraden were some of the most disturbing images he had ever had the disgust to see, and he had the World Wide Web at his disposal at any given moment. He didn't like Trent, not one bit; and he didn't like how he often referred to him as the "giant blue menace"; wasn't his fault that his foot kept slipping when he went to jump down from his door.

He quickly logged onto the chat-room that Caraden used and quickly found her, his parental instincts driving him crazy at the thought of what number this date was; number three…and he didn't like what Bumblebee had told him about that number for humans. He shuddered slightly on his tires as he opened a link with her.

'Oh, hey Soundwave.' She typed out.

'Hello Homegirl.' He replied, noticing her status set to "busy". 'Do you have something planned?'

'Oh, just getting ready for a date.' She replied.

'Oh, I see.' He typed, sighing to himself. 'You be careful, alright.'

'Geez, you sound like my mum.' She replied, typing an "lol" at the end. 'I'll be fine.'

'True, I suppose you are old enough to look after yourself.' He replied. 'Have fun.' He added as he sensed Trent approaching from behind him.

'I will, later Soundwave.' She replied before she logged out.

He growled to himself as he watched Trent walk past him, throwing him a casual glance before grinning and walking up to the door to knock. He shuddered on his wheels as he processed what the human male had just thought; there was no way _that_ was occurring within his interior! Or to his Caraden! No, this mech was not mating with Caraden; she was not anywhere near old enough for such things! True, their mating processes did not bind them to each other for eternity as his race did, but she did not have to put up with the fantasies of this mech.

He glanced up again as Trent and Caraden walked over to him, the former's arm wrapped tightly around the latter's waist. "So, Caraden, why don't you let me drive your Hummer?" Trent asked. "That way you don't strain your ankles."

"I can drive just fine." She replied evenly, frowning up at the taller human. "But, I guess…I mean it's not like you're going to hurt him."

"Cars are female." Trent moaned. "Why do you call it a he?"

"Because I'm a girl." She replied as she opened the passenger side door. "Be kind of weird to call it a she."

Trent grumbled as he walked over to his driver's side, swinging himself up into his front seat. He took the keys from Caraden with a smile before starting his engine up and backing out of the driveway. Caraden waved out windshield at her mother as the elder femme waved from the window in the kitchen. Her smiled looked forced to him; no doubt she didn't trust Trent anymore than he did.

"So, have you been up to the look-out point at the other end of town?" Trent asked.

"The one over on Enzis?" She asked. "No, usually it's only visited by couples…because it has such a great view."

"Well, how about I show it to you?" He asked with a grin. "I mean, only if you want to."

Caraden laughed. "Of course I want to! Onward, James." She giggled as she pointed through the windshield.

Trent grinned again and he decided that he wasn't going to listen to the boy's disturbing thoughts anymore. He paid attention to Caraden's emotions as she grew slightly annoyed when Trent started fumbling with the dial on his radio, turning it to a loud rap station. He listened to her mind as it let out a loud wail of protest at the music and he decided that he didn't like it either, considering that it wasn't like the softer music that she always had the dial turned to.

"Oh, you don't like rap?" He asked as he snorted slightly.

"Rap? No, I don't like it. All that stuff does is insult women, scream, swear, and make racial comments." She replied.

"Maybe I could get you to like the music." He chuckled as he looked over at her.

He growled slightly before he jumped stations. _'You can look but you can't touch it, if you touch it, I'ma start some drama; you don't want no drama. No, no, no, no drama, drama.'_ The female voice sang out over his radio.

"What the?" Trent yelped in shock.

"Arg, come on Big Blue, not now." She muttered as she reached to turn off the radio. "Geez, I really should get that radio checked out."

He chuckled to himself as Trent gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Is your car possessed?" He asked.

"No…I don't think so." Caraden replied. "It just…the radio has been acting up ever since I got it. But it always seems to play songs where they are appropriate." She added as she glanced at him. "Don't touch the dial, ok?"

"Yeah, whatever." He replied as he pulled off the main highway and onto the sign that read "Enzis".

The road up was gravel, filled with potholes and bumps, but because of his size, he easily drove over them without so much as a twitch. Caraden was laughing as they drove, her eyes bright with excitement; she always did love to drive off roads with him. Trent was giving her a skeptical look before he drove up to the top of the road overlooking the town. The lights of the city stretched on in front of them, twinkling in the twilight as the sun began to set. Caraden let out a gasp of awe as she leant forward in her seat.

"Wow, what a view." She murmured.

"Isn't it?" Trent asked as he unbuckled his seat belt and leant over to wrap his arm around her. She blushed slightly as he pulled her closer to him. "But I know a much better one."

She glanced up at him, her big brown eyes innocent and his spark panged painfully as he watched the predatory look creep into the male's optics. "What are you talking about?" She asked, blinking slightly.

His hand traveled down the front of her shirt and he grinned cruelly. "Oh, you know what I'm talking about." He purred as he leant in close to her, licking her ear. "It's date number three, Caraden; you know what that means."

She let out a squeak as she squirmed. "Trent, stop it!" She snapped as she gave his chest a shove. He growled as he pulled her closer, trailing his mouth down the side of her neck now. "Trent, I mean it!"

"Oh come on; I've waited this long to taste you properly." He purred as he nipped her neck.

"Trent, piss off!" She screamed as she shoved him away from her.

He growled to himself as he watched the male try to force Caraden to interface with him. He felt his interior heat up in fury and he made his decision; frag the Autobots and their rules, he was saving his Caraden. With a snarl, he tipped Trent's seat towards the door, opening it so he fell into a heap on the ground. Caraden yelped as he tipped her far more gently onto the ground on the other side of him, before activating his transformation sequence.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!" Trent demanded as he scrambled backwards.

Caraden was staring up at him in shock as his face mask and visor snapped into place. He let out a small snort before he turned towards Trent, taking a protective stance over Caraden. "Designation; Soundwave, faction; Decepticon, function; Communications Officer." He replied calmly in his monotone before he snarled. "Current operation; terminate predatory human male."

He watched in amusement as Trent started scrambling along the ground, keeping his eye focused on him as he tried to get back to his feet. He let out a menacing chuckle before he slammed his hand into the ground beside the male, causing him to shriek in terror. "WHAT DID I DO?!"

"What did you do?" He asked in reply. "You attempted to force interface with my…charge." He replied, stumbling slightly over the word, surprised that he so openly said it to the human when he had often turned the idea down before. "Punishment; death." He snarled.

"Wait…please! I wouldn't have…," Trent squeaked as his body reacted to the situation in a typical human reactions to an extremely terrifying situation; tried to make itself lighter by getting rid of the contents of his bladder.

"Impressive." He sneered before he smacked him aside. "Get out of my sight and don't let me ever catch you anywhere near Caraden." He added.

Trent scrambled to his feet and took off running, screaming about giant robots all the way back down the road. He chuckled as he straightened up, glancing over his shoulder at Caraden and froze. She was sitting on the ground, her eyes wide, and her mouth wide open. He crouched down slowly and watched as she fell backwards with a whimper.

"What do you want?!" She demanded as tears fell down her face.

He backed up before sighing and returning to his vehicle mode. She scrambled to her feet, backing away slightly. He activated his holoform, switching it slightly so that it wasn't as intimidating to her; he didn't want Caraden to be afraid of him. He hopped out of his now still body and stood by the door.

"You do not have to be afraid of me, Caraden." He stated calmly.

"Why were you disguised as my Hummer?!" She demanded as she backed away.

He sighed as he ran a hand through his black hair, shaking it slightly before he looked back at her through his sunglasses. "I was not disguised as it…I am your Hummer." He stated evenly. "You Caraden…you are my charge, my responsibility." He added as he walked forward until he stood in front of her, towering over her by at least a foot. "And I will never harm you."

She stared up at him, her eyes trembling before she closed them and took a step back, only to slip on the light sprinkling of snow that was on the ground. His hand snapped forward, catching her arm and stopping her from hitting the ground. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with confusion and mistrust.

"How can I trust you?" She asked.

He chuckled as he pulled her back to her feet. "There is a term you humans use, I believe it goes "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"." He stated.

Caraden looked at him in confusion before she burst out into hysterical laughter. "Let me guess, I have to keep giving you a car wash every weekend?" She asked as they died down slightly.

He chuckled as he led her back to his alt. mode, letting her get into the passenger seat before he turned off his holoform. "Perhaps," he chuckled through his radio, causing her to jump slightly, "perhaps something else will turn up that I will need." He replied before he started his engine.

"Um, this is going to take some getting use to." She murmured as she watched the wheel turn by itself. "You know…the intelligent car thing…."

"I am more than a "car thing"." He stated gently as he activated his hologram, giving Caraden a look as she yelp of surprise. "I am a Decepticon from the planet Cybertron." He stated as his hologram sat up straighter. "My race is a proud group of intelligent robots that have technology far beyond the reaches of humans."

"Wow…you sure are a proud individual, aren't you?" She asked as she shifted nervously before she yelped; her seatbelt had just slid itself into place.

"You have no idea, little one." He replied with a chuckle.

"Um, call me random…but does your race have kids?" Caraden asked, blushing up slightly.

"Yes; we call them "sparklings"." He replied gently.

"Ok…um…how are they made?" She asked before she giggled nervously. "Kill the curious female later."

He chuckled for a moment before he glanced over at her. "There are several ways. Most are created from a mech and femme bonding, similar to your…reproduction, only they connect their sparks." He stated.

"Sparks?"

"Our heart and soul, in human terms." He replied.

"Oh, ok. How else are sparklings created?" She asked.

"There is also a "split-spark" form." He stated as he closed his optics. "A section of the spark is clipped away and placed in another shell where it takes on a life of its own."

"Oh cool!" She gasped as she leant forward. "You mean a part of your soul becomes another soul?"

"Yes…but sometimes the new spark does not act like the original spark that it originated from." He stated. "My…my own sparklings acted like me only in the fact that they took pride in what they did; other than that they differed from me as greatly as any other spark."

"You have kids?" She asked. "Where are they?"

"Deactivated." He replied before he sighed. "Dead." He added at the confused expression on her face.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know." She murmured as she looked away.

"Do not worry about it." He replied before he pulled into the driveway of her house. "You are young and clueless; you didn't know any better."

As Caraden turned to hop out of his seat, she turned back to him and frowned. "You're the guy who's been talking to me on the chat site, aren't you?" She asked.

"DJ Soundwave?" He asked, earning a nod. "Yes, that is me."

She smiled before she patted his dashboard. "Then I really do have nothing to worry about, do I?" She asked before she opened the door. "Because you keep your tabs on me at all times."

He chuckled as he nodded, deactivating his hologram. "No, you do not have to worry about anything; I will always protect you."

She smiled before she hopped out of his seat and headed inside, laughing slightly as her mother met her at the door. He smiled as he settled down on his tires, ready to fall asleep before he picked up a signal at the edge of his scanners. He recorded it, but paid it no mind as he fell asleep.

'_All Decepticons report to these co-ordinates immediately. All hail Lord Megatron!'_

**_Author's note:_** The little blurb of a song belongs to the Blackeyed Peas. And yes, I consider Trent to be a perverted jerk who would try to do that to any girl. His reason for targetting Caraden? New meat. And who do you think gave the order at the end of the chapter? Let me know with a review please!


	5. Danger

Chapter 5 Danger

Caraden laughed as Sam finished the joke he had been telling. She had the whole gang; Mikaela, Sam, Miles, Valerie, and herself; piled into him and where heading towards the mall in the closest big city. Apparently, the "pickings" were better at the larger shopping center. He didn't mind, as long as Miles kept his hands out from under his seat and Mikaela didn't spill any of her make-up on his seats; she had done it the last time Caraden had given her a lift.

"So, what sale do you want to hit first?" Mikaela asked.

"Well, I was planning on getting some paint to help cover that scratch that my dad put on Big Blue when he pulled in last week." Caraden replied.

"Oh, yeah, good idea." Sam agreed.

Sam and Mikaela were aware that he was a sentient being and no doubt also understood that he was not comfortable with the huge scratch on the side of his body. He wasn't entirely sure how Caraden's new father had managed to misjudge the distance between his car and his side, but he had and scraped the driver's side mirror along his side the entire way. How he had failed to hear the loud screeching noise was beyond his understanding, but apparently he had been on his cell phone when he had pulled into the driveway. So he had a large scratch down his side and he hated the irritation that kept rising in his body every time the wind hit it the wrong way.

"Yeah, then I heard that there was a good sale on winter boots, and I need a new pair." Caraden continued. "These ones are almost toast."

"They don't look that bad." Valerie commented.

"Ok, let me put it this way; I need a new pair because these ones are 4 years old and crushing my toes because my feet grew without me knowing about it." She replied with a teasing smile to her best friend.

Valerie laughed before they broke out into another discussion, this one over the different courses they were going to take the next semester at school. He chuckled lowly as his engine rumbled and they continued down the highway. He sensed something coming up quickly into his radar and his spark pulsed in hatred; Barricade. Why was that useless hunk of scrap following him?

He felt Caraden's thumb run over his steering wheel, the way that he had taught her to silently ask him something. He gave a small sigh before connecting with her mind, feeling her tense up slightly; humans were not the best at handling telepathy. 'Barricade.' He stated.

'Who's Barricade?' She asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

'He use to be my comrade, but he allowed one of my creations to be killed.' He replied gently, switching his focus from her to Barricade's presence; he was getting closer.

'Oh…is he after us?' She asked, her grip tightening on the steering wheel.

'Not likely.' He replied. 'He cares nothing for humans.'

Caraden looked in his rear view mirror quickly and frowned. 'Is he the black Mustang closing in fast on your bumper?' She asked.

'Yes.' He replied before he took a quick scan of what Barricade had on his mind. Great; he was chasing them. Why? Because he wanted to get rid of the Witwicky child. 'Change of plan, tell Valerie to get in the back seat.' He ordered.

'What?' Caraden asked.

'Don't argue with me, Caraden.' He growled, focusing on Barricade to make sure he could dodge him if he had to.

"Val…could you hop in the back please?" Caraden asked, shooting her friend a quick look.

"Huh? Why?" Valerie asked.

"Look, I don't know any more than you do." Caraden sighed in exasperation "Just please get in the back seat, Val."

Valerie gave her a confused look before unbuckling her seat belt and crawling into the back. He gently gave Caraden's foot a nudge, telling her to follow her friend into the backseat. 'Are you crazy?!' She demanded. 'Someone has to pretend to be driving!'

'Do not question me, Caraden.' He stated calmly, already undoing her seatbelt. 'I know what I am doing.'

'You're crazy, it's official!' She snapped in reply before she crawled over her arm rest and hopped into the back seat beside Sam and Miles.

"What are you doing?!" Valerie screamed.

"Trust me, I hate it too!" Caraden replied as she reached out and pulled Valerie back down. "But I'm not arguing."

"What are you…," Valerie started to ask before the steering wheel turned hard towards the right, swerving his body across the road to dodge Barricade as he tried to plow into him.

Everyone shouted in shock as they were thrown around, Valerie and Caraden crashing into each other since they were not strapped in. They groaned before settling on the bottom of his alt. mode. Sam, Mikaela, and Miles started shouting at them, asking if they were ok and Caraden lifted her hand up with her forefinger and thumb touching to form an "o" with the other three fingers standing up. It must have stood for them being ok, because the other three younglings let out sighs of relief. Valerie sat up slowly, her eyes watching the steering wheel as it appeared to turn on its own.

"C-c-cara," she squeaked, "I think you car is haunted!"

"It's fine, Val." Caraden groaned as she stood up. "But a little warning next time before you suddenly swerve would be nice!"

'Sorry,' he replied gently, stroking her mind with his and causing her to shiver slightly, 'there wasn't enough time to warn you.'

"Caraden, what are you going?!" Valerie demanded, tears shining in her eyes. "This is fucking scary! What's going on?!"

"We've got some psycho killer robot on our ass, that's what." Caraden replied before she patted his side door. "And my car is saving us from getting killed."

"A killer _robot_?!" Valerie demanded. "Do I look like an idiot?"

"No, and I'm telling you the truth." Caraden replied. "The psycho's name is Barricade and he wants…Sam dead…wait, what?" She asked as she glared at his steering wheel.

'Barricade wants to kill Sam.' He replied evenly as he jerked to wheel to avoid getting hit again. 'The rest of you are collateral damage.'

"Oh, that's reassuring." She muttered.

"If this robot wants Sam dead, why is it attacking us?" Valerie asked.

"Collateral damage." Mikaela muttered. "He doesn't want to leave survivors."

"You believe her?" Valerie demanded as they went skidding across the ground again.

"Dude, I've been thrown against a car hood by this guy!" Sam shouted as he glanced out the window at the black car that was chasing after his bumper.

"You mean…he's real?!" Valerie shrieked.

"Yeah…and he's scary…and spits little robots out of his chest that chase you around and steal your pants." Sam added.

Caraden winced as he accidentally transmitted his pain through the mental link. "Sam…bad choice of words." She whispered as she clutched her head slightly.

Valerie gulped before he suddenly started spinning along the freeway, earning screams and shouts from everyone. He slammed his breaks on hard, wrenching himself around to face the right way. Other cars were honking their horns, their drivers shouting at him to watch where he's going; like he can control where he's going once he gets tail-ended. The teens inside of him where shouting in terror as he was hit again, sending tendrils of pain lacing through his frame.

He took the next exit off the freeway, heading towards the power plant that was located on the out-skirts of Tranquility. He sped up, hoping to lose Barricade quickly before he took a route through the main section of the plant, weaving through the buildings and the holding tanks. He could hear Barricade's engine roaring behind him, trying to find him and kill the humans inside him. He made a split-second decision, telling Caraden to keep everyone in the back seat as he sped out into the open.

He skidded to a halt, spinning around to face Barricade as the other Decepticon came tearing after him. There was a short pause before his armor began to shift around to form his robot mode. Valerie screamed in terror as Caraden swore and Sam tried to get the door open. With a snarl of rage, he initiated his own transformation sequence, unbuckling the three humans on his back seat and dumping them on the floor as he stood up, his chest plate forming a protective cocoon around them.

"Soundwave!" Barricade shouted in shock, slamming his breaks on and staring up at him.

Valerie was whimpering within him, Caraden was silently swearing her head off, Miles had fainted at some point during his transformation, Mikaela was panting in shock, and Sam was swearing as well, staring out of the darkened glass of his chest plate at the much smaller Decepticon.

"Reason for attacking?" He demanded, his monotonous voice making the humans within fall silent in terror.

"There is a human mech in your chest plate that I want to settle a score with." Barricade chuckled darkly.

"Reason, insufficient." He replied as he pulled his gun out of the armor on his back. "Better reason needed."

"What? It's the human that killed Megatron! Isn't that reason enough to kill him?!" Barricade demanded, clenching his fists.

He tilted his head to the side, half listening to the conversation that the humans were having inside of him. "Human male in question; friend of charge. Status; under protection." He replied evenly, listening to Caraden sigh inside him, pressing her hand against the glass; it wasn't the first time he had carried her around in his chest plate. However, the last time didn't include a hostile mech attempting to kill them.

"Charge?! You're looking after one of these fleshbags?!" Barricade snarled in disgust.

"Affirmative." He confirmed. "Hostility unwelcome. Two minutes given to leave the area before lasers fired."

Barricade snarled before he charged. "You traitor!" He shouted.

He moved quickly, grabbing Barricade by his throat and throwing him against the closest building as Sam called Bumblebee on his phone for back up. Barricade came at him again, swinging his weapon at him and snarling. He dodged the blows, his hand coming down hard on Barricade's head, digging his claws into the armor and throwing him again. Caraden was whimpering inside of him, Valerie covering her head and repeating something over and over again about this being a bad dream.

Car engines could be heard approaching the area quickly and Barricade snarled again. "You will pay for this treachery, Soundwave." He growled before he turned and tried to bolt away.

"Not as much as you will for betraying my trust." He replied before he shot his knee out, watching in amusement as he crumpled to the ground before transforming and taking off, leaving a thin trail of energon behind to sizzle on the ground.

He smirked triumphantly before he returned to his alt. mode and opened his back doors, letting the shaken humans tumble out on their own. Valerie was the first one out, closely followed by Sam, then the unconscious Miles as Mikaela helped Sam haul him out before she hopped out herself. Caraden was the last one out, not meeting the gaze of her best friend as he transformed again behind her.

"Caraden, what is he?" Valerie demanded.

"This is Soundwave. He's a transforming alien robot from the planet Cybertron." She replied mechanically, almost like she wasn't really talking to Valerie. "He's my guardian."

Valerie stared at her for another moment before a large convoy of cars and trucks pulled up around them. "HEY!" She shouted as she pointed at Prowl. "That's my car! Someone stole my car!"

"Correction, miss Valerie." Prowl replied, causing her to shriek again. "I brought myself here."

She stood as still as a statue, her finger pointing at Prowl in accusation as he transformed in front of her. Her eyes widened before they rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed to the ground. Prowl darted forward, picking her up and scanning her desperately, looking for any sign of injury.

"What did you do?" Ironhide growled, pointing his cannons at him.

"Leave him alone!" Caraden shouting, stepping in front of his leg and holding her arms out straight beside her. "He protected us from Barricade!"

Ironhide stalled for a moment, looking from Caraden to Optimus as Bumblebee chirped down at Sam and Mikaela, poking Miles gently to get him to wake up. "Prime?" He asked.

"Let him be, Ironhide." Optimus stated calmly. "Soundwave protected them, and Valerie's fainting has nothing to do with his treatment of them."

Caraden nodded angrily. "Soundwave has done nothing but protect us, so step off, you jerk!" She snarled.

He couldn't help but feel proud of her for standing up to something that was about 10 times her size and could easily crush her with a mere flick of his foot, and at the same time he was worried about her well-being; Ironhide was not known for his love of humans. He bent down and gently scooped his charge up into his hang, earning a slight gasp of shock from her before she hugged his finger tightly to maintain her balance. Ironhide glared at her from around his fingers before snorting.

"You watch what you say around me, kid." He snapped. "You might just end up getting stepped on."

"You want to have human guts stuck on your foot?" Caraden spat. "And I'd like to see you try to step on me with Soundwave here."

He chuckled as he stroked her head slightly. Ironhide shook his head before turning to Optimus. "Should we follow Barricade?" He asked, pointing at the trail of energon.

"No, let him go." Optimus replied. "His injuries will mean that he will be out of commission for a while, giving us enough time to put more protection around the humans."

Prowl turned to look at him, Valerie nestled gently in the palm of his hand. "If I may, Prime, I would prefer to watch over Valerie on my own; she does not appear to react well to so many of our kind." He stated.

"Understood Prowl." Prime nodded in understanding. "And Soundwave, I want you to watch over Caraden's parents as well." He added.

He nodded in reply as Caraden sat down comfortably in his hand. "Understood, Prime." He replied before he began to pick up Caraden's exhaustion. "Permission to return to Caraden's residence." He asked.

"Granted." Prime replied.

He nodded before opening his chest compartment and gently sliding Caraden in. She squeaked before she landed, giving him the signal to transform back into his alt. mode. He started his engine up before he drove away, watching as she slowly made her way to the front seat.

"You wanted to get out of there pretty fast." She commented as she pulled her seat belt on.

"You're exhausted." He replied as his hologram activated.

"It's only 2 o'clock." She stated with a laugh.

He glanced at her and smiled before turning his attention back to the road. "Look again." He stated as he tapped the radio panel.

"Holy shit! The time really flew by!" She gasped in shock; it was almost 5 P.M..

"Yes." He chuckled before he headed up to the look out point. "And almost time for sunset."

"Ok, now you're just doing this to try to get on my good side." She laughed as he drove up the hillside.

He chuckled before he came to a stop, turning off his engine and letting his hologram drop. Caraden zipped her winter jacket all the way up before hopping out and moving to jump up into his hood. He materialized his holoform beside her and smirked as she huddled against his side.

"What? You're warm!" She huffed.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and let her snuggle against his chest; he wouldn't deny that his holoform body was very warm. He looked out as the sun began to sink below the horizon, painting the clouds that covered the whole sky orange, yellow, and red. He smiled as Caraden sighed softly.

"You know…I use to imagine that I could do this with my dad, you know, if he had survived that car crash." She murmured.

He glanced down at her and frowned for a moment. "Perhaps…you can, in a sense." He replied.

"He's dead, Soundwave." She stated bluntly. "How can I watch the sunset with my dad if he's dead?"

He smiled before he gently dug through her mind and found an image of her looking at a picture of her father. He tilted his head as he applied every bit of information that was in his image to his own holoform. He looked down at Caraden and smiled as she gasped in shock.

"You…you look just like him." She whispered.

"I…I am willing to act as your surrogate father." He replied with a smile. "That is, if you wish it."

She was silent for a moment before she hugged him tightly, burying her face into his chest and letting out a choked sob. "Soundwave…I'd love that." She whispered. "You…you already act so much like a father to me, it…well, it'd be awesome."

He smiled as he returned the hug, his spark humming happily as a new bond began to establish itself slowly within him. He wasn't sure if she could feel it growing, considering that humans did not have sparks, but she must have been aware of something; bonds were powerful things. She pulled back, wiping her eyes clear of tears before smiling at him.

"Do you think that Val will get that close with Prowl?" She asked. "She's never had a father either."

"It is hard to say." He replied as he looked back at the sky, noting how very dark red it had become. "If Valerie is willing to accept Prowl as her guardian than she may develop a bond with him similar to what you have developed with me in our short time together."

Caraden sighed. "Yeah…I guess." She replied before she leant her head against him again. "It's hard to imagine that only a month ago I thought you were nothing more than an inanimate car." She laughed.

"Hard to imagine that only four months ago I believed that you were nothing more than a nuisance and a bane to my existence." He chuckled back before stroking her hair. "Time changes many things…but know this, Caraden; I may be your guardian and protect your friends when they are with you, but I am a Decepticon. And Decepticons do not show mercy when it comes to fighting…or discipline."

"Great…wonder if they have a hotline for abused charges." Caraden joked.

He laughed before picking her up and throwing her into the snow. She squealed in shock as he jumped in after her, piling snow onto her and laughing as she struggled. She started rolling snowballs and chucking them at him, watching as they melted against his fake skin. They continued their snow fight, tackling each other and trying to bury the other in the snow before they could retaliate. It was well after dark before they stopped, Caraden panting, dripping wet, and shivering afterwards. He gently picked her up and put her in the passenger seat before starting up his heaters to keep her from getting a chill.

"That was awesome!" She laughed as he drove down the road back to her house. "I didn't know you did stuff like that."

He smiled slightly. "I use to do something very similar with my youngest creations." He replied. "We do not have snow on Cybertron, but we did have many things in our house that we use to play with. Rumble and Frenzy enjoyed the games greatly…it is probably what led them to be such impressive fighters and spies." He mused.

"Wow," she murmured, "I wish I could have met them. All of them sound like such interesting people."

He smiled before he pulled into the driveway and deactivated his hologram. "I'm sure that they would have enjoyed your company too…if they had stayed with me during your ownership." He replied.

She smiled before patting his dashboard. "Night Soundwave." She murmured before she hopped out and headed for the door.

He smiled before he sank down on his tires and prepared for recharge. He listened to Caraden walking around the inside of her house, laughing at her mother as she fretted over her wet cloth and how she could catch a chill if she didn't get warmed up. He smiled before he powered down and entered his recharge state. His wounds were already repairing themselves and he wasn't too worried about it.

It wasn't until later in the evening that he woke up to a sharp pain in his side, a low hiss escaping him as he glanced over. A large scratch ran along the length of his side, deeper than anything a human car could do. He looked around him for the culprit, in case it was a human and instead he saw Cybertronian hieroglyphics written in the snow beside him.

'_Barricade said you were a traitor. I don't believe it. But I will say this; our leader is not impressed that you are looking after humans, brother.'_

His energon ran cold in his fuel lines as he read the last word over and over again until his CPU crashed in a data overload. "Blackout."


	6. New Family

Chapter 6 New Family

"Hey, Soundwave, are you ok?" Caraden asked, touching his arm as he stared down unseeingly into his lap.

He jumped slightly, breaking out of his thoughts with a jolt. He looked down at her, noting the concern in her eyes, before nodding slowly. "Affirmative," he replied as he stroked her head.

"You sure? You've been acting distant since the incident with Barricade," she stated as she leant against his metal frame, her brown eyes filling with confusion.

He stroked her head reassuringly, wrapping around her mind with his own as added protection. "You needn't worry about it, youngling," he replied gently.

He sensed the questions that were rolling around in her head, but she kept quite out of respect for his privacy, and instead watched the Autobots and their human allies as they played in the slowly melting snow. Caraden had joined in for a short while, but after almost getting trampled by the Lamborghini Twins when they had fled from Bumblebee's rapid fire shots, she had decided to sit out with him. Prowl was a short distance away, tending to Valerie as she sneezed from her soaking wet hair; the humans learnt never to challenge Ironhide to a snowball fight. The cheater had packed the snow into his cannons, only to end up shooting out hot water at them all when he had fired. Prowl had not been impressed at the harm that had been directed at his charge and had immediately started scolding Ironhide for his antics.

Amongst the humans was the military team that had aided the Autobots at their battle of Mission City. When he had discovered that the Captain, William Lennox, had been responsible for his brother's death, most of the Autobots had leapt forward to stop him from stepping on the human out of angry and pain. While they understood that he was upset about the whole incident, they had tried to justify their actions anyways. Caraden, the sweetspark that she was, then told them to stop before they finished digging their graves and were put in them.

"Hey, Soundwave," Caraden's voice broke through his thoughts again, "what was Blackout like?"

He looked down at her for a moment before answering. "A very loyal comrade," he replied. "He…I would trust him with my life, as well as my sparklings lives far beyond anyone else."

"You were really close, huh?" she asked with a smile as she pulled her legs up to her chest.

"Very," he agreed as he looked out at the cloud-covered sky.

"I wish I had a brother," she sighed as she followed her gaze. "Someone to talk to, hang with, and watch my back in a fight."

He chuckled lightly. "We did not always get along," he stated. "They were many time when we fought and injured each other."

"But, no one ever gets along all the time," she replied. "Just look at me and Val; she still doesn't think you're safe, but I know that you are a cuddly as a teddy bear…after you get past the killer claws, bone crushing hands, and terrifying face mask and visor."

He looked down at her, catching her smirk before she looked back at him innocently. He chuckled again before he picked her up and set her on his shoulder, shifting the cannon to the side so she could fit comfortably. She snickered as he stood up, snow falling slightly out of his hands as he scooped a pile up. He shot her a look, mentally telling her to pick a target out of the Autobots that surrounded them. She immediately chose Ironhide and waited in excitement as Soundwave packed the snow into a tight ball, then, took careful aim at the black mech, telling Caraden to hold on tightly so she wouldn't fall off of his shoulder.

She grinned happily before she pointed at Ironhide. "Fire!" she shouted.

He did as she commanded, throwing the giant snowball as hard as he could at the desired target. With a loud "whamp", the snowball connected with Ironhide's head, sending him flying forward to land with a muffled thud in a snow bank. Caraden let out a loud whoop as everyone else looked on in shock as Ironhide lay still in the snow. Valerie burst out laughing as the black mech slowly stood back up, his whole frame shaking in rage. Murder was written in his optics as he turned to face the one who had hit him. Caraden grinned cheekily as she waved at him while he merely chuckled coldly. The black Autobot growled before turning his cannons on him and powering them up.

Time to go," Caraden commented before his chest compartment opened, allowing her to slide in to safety.

He turned and darted away, scooping up more snow to whip at the enraged Autobot. Caraden was watching from the safety of his chest compartment as Bumblebee joined in on bombarding Ironhide with snow. Sam, Mikaela, and Miles cheered them on before another snowball caught the hulking mech in the side of the head, making him stumble a few feet to the left. Valerie cheered as Prowl got more snow, muttering about how illogical it all was. When Ironhide recovered, he started shooting vast amounts of hot water from the snow that he had packed into his cannons, barely missing giving Valerie severe burns, as well as melting the surrounding snow into slush.

"Enough, all of you," Optimus' voice ordered over the shouting and cannon fire.

Prowl did as he was told, turning his attention back to his charge. Valerie was trembling slightly, looking at the steaming snow that was just an inch away from where she was sitting. The Second-in-Command spun on Ironhide and began to lecture the trigger happy mech about the over use of his cannons. While he was busy screaming and lecturing his comrade, he opened his chest compartment, letting Caraden clamber out onto his awaiting hand. She was laughing, her brown eyes sparkling in excitement as small tears leaked down her face.

"That was awesome!" she exclaimed. "Can we do that again?!"

"Negative," he chuckled as he set her down on the ground and transformed, "we are going home."

"Ok," she sighed as she climbed in, waving good-bye to the others.

He chuckled as he drove away from the clearing beside the Autobot base, heading back to Caraden's home so that she could get changed out of her wet clothing before she caught a cold. Caraden continued to talk in excitement and he mentally smiled as he activated his hologram; he was glad that she had had a good time. It was difficult for him to enjoy time with the Autobots because they still harbored mistrust for each other, but he would allow her to be with her friends.

When they arrived at the house, she hopped out and met her parents at the door. They said they were going to the local restaurant for supper and dancing and wouldn't be back until later that night; they had supper ready for her in the fridge since they didn't want her operating the stove without them home; the last time she had, she had almost set the whole stove on fire. Caraden wished them an excellent time and they got into their little Chevrolet and pulled out of the driveway. He snorted before he activated his holoform and followed her inside; he wasn't going to leave her all by herself in her house to "die of boredom".

"House party!" she laughed as she hung up her coat, scarf, hat, and mittens.

"I don't think so," he grunted before he frowned and gave his charge a once over.

She was thinner now, far thinner than when he had first met her, but she still looked healthy. Her leg muscles seemed to bulge against the leg of her jeans and her arms were incredibly toned. He knew that nothing in her routine had changed in the slightest degree, not even the amount of food she consumed, but she was changing. Everything she did seemed to make her muscles form, her weight to decrease, and, as much as he shouldn't have noticed because he was her father figure, her hips and chest to become more prominent. If anything, her body seemed determined to make her as feminine it could without anyone realizing that it was, as well as not harming her in any way.

"Would you stop that?" she asked as she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"My apologies," he replied as he stopped his examination.

She sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I've had this checked out, but the doctors haven't got a clue what's wrong with me. Everything turns up normal, I don't even have an imbalance of hormones!" she shouted as her shoulders began to shake.

He walked over to her and hugged her to his chest, letting her sob and let her worry out. "Do not worry about this," he told her, rocking back and forth while rubbing her back. "You are healthy so you needn't worry."

She sniffled as she hugged him back, hiding her head in the center of his chest. He could sense her inner turmoil; this problem scared her greatly and with good reason. She had watched her maternal grandfather waste away to nothing from a malignant cancer and that image was dominant in her mind. He comforted her, telling her that there was nothing wrong with her and that her body would sort itself out in due time. When she pulled back, thanking him and wiping her eyes clear of tears, a horrifying thought entered his processor; what if it was he that was causing this unnerving metamorphosis? He shuddered slightly, squashing the idea down into the pits of his processor; there was a much more rational reason for this change; Mikaela and Valerie had been around the other Autobots, and neither of them had gone through such a change. He was not the cause of this, but he would find out what it was, he swore upon his spark.

"So, Soundwave, what are we going to do?" she asked as she headed for the living room, still trying to get her voice back under control.

"Whatever amuses you, Caraden," he replied as he glanced around, taking in the simple furnishing set up in the living room.

"Alright," she grinned as she set something up on the television, "grab that guitar; we're playing Rock Band."

He chuckled as he picked the device up, slinging it over his shoulder as she hooked everything up, picking up the microphone when the loading screen popped up. She scrolled through the list of songs, frowning until she found the one she wanted. She grinned at him before the song started, leaving him to play his own part.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He didn't know how long it had been before they finally stopped playing on account of Caraden being hungry. He had enjoyed the game though, so he wasn't complaining, even though he was draining his energy level by using his holoform by staying in it for so long. He bid Caraden good-night before returning to his shell to recharge. However, he did know that it was very late when he sensed another vehicle pull into the driveway.

Groggily rebooting, he glanced beside him and was slightly baffled to see a police cruiser with the canopy lights flashing sitting beside him. There were two human males walking up to the front door, both looking oddly solemn and he immediately holofromed into Caraden's room to rouse her. He gently shook her awake, ignoring her "five-more-minutes" routine, waiting for the door-bell to sound.

"Uh, Soundwave?" she asked as she rolled over to look at him. "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer as the door-bell rang, earning a frown from his charge. She got out of her bed, pulling a sweater on over top of her tank top, before heading downstairs to answer the door. He followed slower, keeping his distance because of what his holoform looked like; the last thing he needed was for the humans to freak out and claim to see a ghost, or, if he changed his look, that she had a male friend over in her parent's house. He heard Caraden open the door, greeting the officers in a confused voice.

"Are you Caraden Mazer?" one officer asked.

"Yes," she replied wearily.

"We have bad news," the other officer sighed. "Your parents' car had a head on collision with a stolen military vehicle."

His optics widened as Caraden let out a choking noise. "What?"

"They were killed in the collision," the first officer replied. "I'm sorry."

He watched them turn and leave, leaving Caraden to collapse to the floor. He was at her side in an instant, holding her as the news settled into her mind. She let out a whimper before she clutched his arms in desperation, tears rolling down her face. Her body shook before a sob caught in her throat and she buried her face in his shoulder. A loud, painful wail left her and he held her tighter, humming softly to try to soothe her.

"They're gone," she sobbed, "they're gone, Soundwave!"

He continued to hum gently, mentally keeping his distance from his charge. He knew that her mind was in turmoil, confusion, and misery, and as much as he did want to make her feel better, he did not want to lose himself to those emotions. He needed to keep a level head to comfort her, not allow his own internal pain to affect her and worsen her current condition.

His head snapped up as he sensed another mech enter the property, but rather than being in the driveway, they were coming from the sky. _'Megatron wishes to speak with you, Soundwave,'_ Thundercracker's familiar drawl echoed down the com-link.

He stood up, cradling Caraden to his chest as he headed out the front door to his slumbering shell. _'Understood,'_ he replied.

He quickly placed Caraden on his back seat, trying to ignore her questions as she tried to see around her tears. He deactivated his holoform before backing out of the driveway, locking onto Thundercracker's energy signature as he led the way to wherever it was that Megatron wished to meet him.

"Soundwave, where are we going?" Caraden asked weakly as she tried to crawl into the front seat.

"Remain where you are," he told her, "I am needed for an audience with my leader, and I am not leaving you unattended to while my comrades are around."

She immediately fell silent, sitting down on the floor of the back seat, and staring down into her lap. She was silent the rest of the way to the meeting place, an abandoned construction site, and didn't even dare to peek out of his windows when he had come to a stop. He transformed and went into a kneeling bow as a large, silver mech came into view from where he had been waiting behind an old building. Hatred roared through his circuits at the sight of the mech, his internal processors blaming all of his pain and misery for the loss of his creations on the giant. The giant mech glared down at him before snorting.

"Rise, Soundwave," he ordered.

He stood up slowly, still trying to keep his anger in check; the last thing he needed was to initiate a fight between himself and the giant. Caraden had herself pressed against the back of his chest compartment, trying not to make a sound; the other mech's voice had startled and terrified her. He sent a soothing pulse to her mind, letting her know that he would protect her no matter what.

"Hail, Lord Megatron," he replied, his monotone as menacing as ever.

"Amazing how you still utter his name with respect in awe when you are a traitor," Barricade sneered as he transformed and stepped out from under the tarp that he had been hiding under.

"Silence, Barricade," Megatron growled, "I will make my own assessment."

He felt Caraden shudder within him, a million apologies racing through her mind. 'You did nothing wrong, little one,' he told her. 'If anything, you have helped me.'

'But, you're going to get in a lot of trouble for protecting me!' she whimpered.

'He needs me functioning; I am too important to dispose of,' he replied before returning his full attention to his leader.

"Now, Soundwave, tell me, how has it been living in the company of humans?" Megatron asked, spitting out the last word like it was something horribly unpleasant.

"Interesting; they have many strange customs that would appeal to a wide range of scientists," he replied.

Megatron snorted slightly. "They are disgusting creatures," he snarled.

"Agreed," he replied, secretly hating that he had to say it to protect Caraden.

"And what of their culture?" Megatron asked as he started to circle him. "Is it as fascinating to you as they are?"

"Their culture has many surprising similarities to our own," he replied, keeping a close watch on his leader.

"How is that possible?" Starscream asked, shifting slightly as he landed not far away; he obviously felt nervous being so close to him after killing Rumble.

"They often have two creators caring for them, but one is just as common," he replied evenly.

"Humans are insects," Megatron sneered.

"But, they are determined, my Lord," Blackout's voice boomed as he landed on Starscream's left, his helicopter blades sliding down into their usual place. "They do not die without a fight."

Megatron growled behind him as he moved to greet his brother. 'Blackout, I truly believed you were dead,' he murmured down their brother bond.

'I was for a little while, but Lord Megatron revived us,' he replied gently.

'It is good to have some of my family back,' he murmured gently.

Blackout actually laughed out loud at that statement. 'Brother, had anyone else heard that statement, they would think that you have gone soft!'

'You make that sound like a bad thing,' he commented before he felt his brother prodding their bond.

'You have an additional bond attachment,' he commented. 'Have you found a mate?'

'No, brother,' he replied as he tried to shield Caraden from being pulled into their bond, 'it is difficult to explain.'

Blackout was silent for a moment as he found Caraden's presence within him, having been able to hack past his system dampeners. He watched his brother's optics widen slightly before narrowing into slits. 'A human?' he snarled. 'You have a human in you bond?!'

Caraden let out a squeak from inside of him, startled by the hatred that had flooded her mind when Blackout had managed to add his own presence into his mind link. He immediately protected her mind with his own, glaring at his brother angrily through his visor, and sending his outrage down the bond. 'Do not harm my youngling,' he snarled.

'Youngling?' his brother asked, his anger shifting to curiosity. 'Wait, you took in a youngling, a human youngling?'

'She is my charge, brother,' he replied as he placed a hand on his chest compartment, 'and I will protect as I would my own creations.'

'Speaking of creations,' Blackout grinned before beckoning his brother to follow him.

He tilted his head curiously before following his brother, ignoring Barricade's snarl about his betrayal. He led him into a partially built building and into a large room that had the roof missing. His jaw hit the ground in shock behind his face mask as he looked at the slumbering forms of his creations, well, almost all of his creations; Ravage was missing. The fact that they were here, whole, and alive stunned him greatly; Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw were completely rebuilt, snuggling against each other and having their beaks intertwined as they recharged; Ratbat was curled up against Rumble's side as the darker twin hugged Frenzy close to him, the silver twin twitching as he recharged. He walked slowly forward, not really believing his optics, before he scooped Rumble up, earning a squawk from the little mech.

"Hey, what do you," he started to growl before all four red optics focused on him. They blinked in shock before he squealed and leapt forward to hug his neck. "Dad!"

His other creations stirred, slowly looking up at him before letting out similar shouts of shock and delight. He embraced his sparklings, nuzzling them as they cooed happily and burrowed themselves into his chest and neck. Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw were snuggling up to his face, peeping and chirping to him; Ratbat was sitting on his head, squeaking in delight as his helm was stroked; Rumble and Frenzy were clinging to his chest, laughing and crying as they snuggled against him. He smiled at them through his visor, his spark almost bursting with joy at the feeling of his creations in his embrace. He sensed Caraden's apprehension and confusion to the situation, hearing everything but not understanding what was going on, and he calmed her down with a few comforting pulses to her mind before he allowed her to share in the moment with him and his creations.

'My creations,' he whispered down the bond he hadn't known had returned, so use to having it there all the time.

'Creator,' Lazerbeak cawed softly, rubbing his beak against his cheek.

'Um, dad, why is there another presence in the bond?' Rumble asked, homing in on Caraden's confused and inexperienced mind link.

The others quickly homed in on her and Soundwave immediately wrapped his mind protectively around her as her panic spiked. 'You will not harm her,' he ordered, leaving no room for arguments, at least, not with his still sane creations.

'But who is she, father?" Buzzsaw asked.

'I…I'm Caraden,' she whispered fearfully, not at all comfortable to be the center of attention amongst robots that could easily kill her.

'Human!' Frenzy snarled. 'Kill, kill, kill, kill!'

'Silence!' Soundwave roared, silencing Frenzy before he got the other riled up with his shouting.

'But…but…h-h-human insect!' Frenzy squeaked.

'Watch it!' Caraden snapped. 'I'm no insect!'

'Caraden,' he warned gently as he opened his chest compartment.

His creations transformed immediately, flying into his compartment without any further orders. Everyone but Frenzy tried not to hit Caraden as they went to their respected corners of the compartment. She caught him in his boombox alt. mode, unfazed by everything now that she knew that they wouldn't try to kill her, and gently tossed him into the corner of the compartment. He turned to his brother, only to find Megatron standing there as well. He bowed again, careful not to make Caraden rattle around too much in his chest compartment.

"I see you are content with my gift," he stated as he walked over to him, his red optics glowing angrily in the darkness.

"Affirmative," he replied as he straightened up, listening to Rumble advise Caraden to back away from the glass.

"You have information about the Autobots," Megatron growled. "Prove your loyalty by telling me."

He nodded slowly. "Information desired?" he asked.

"Charges," he growled, "I want to know which of those pathetic mechs has a human parasite that we can use for randsom."

He nodded slowly as he straightened up; he knew that the Decepticons would not be able to capture any of the humans as easily as Megatron believed. "Autobot Bumblebee; charge Samuel James Witwicky. Autobot Ratchet; charge Mikaela Banes. Autobot Prowl; charge Valerie Brown. Autobot Ironhide; charge Annabel C. Lennox. Autobot Beachcomber; charge Miles Lancaster," he droned out before pausing and quickly consulting with his brother over telling Megatron about Caraden. He took a small cycle of air into his intakes, a habit he had picked up from Caraden when something important and dangerous had to be said. "Decepticon Soundwave; charge Caraden Mazer."

Megatron was silent for a moment before he growled. "You have a human charge?!" he demanded as his claws extended.

"Affirmative," he replied as he prepared himself for an attack.

Before the behemoth of a mech could attack, Blackout stepped in front of him and bowed at the waist. "My lord, Soundwave's action are derived from his creations deaths. His sparks latched onto the first thing that seemed like his creations. His charge is the equivalent of a youngling, my liege," he explained.

Megatron growled before turning away. "Very well, I will let this human live. But, your loyalties are in question, Soundwave," he growled. "I suggest you watch what you do from now on."

He nodded before turning and leaving the building. Starscream glanced at him before transforming and leaving. He snorted slightly before transformed and driving away. Caraden crawled into his passenger seat, shaking slightly as she buckled herself in.

"Does your leader have to be like that?" she asked as she leant her head back.

"Megatron was trapped in ice on this planet and then was experimented on by members of your race," he replied gently.

She shivered slightly before sighing. "I…I got you in trouble, didn't I?" she asked.

"It does not matter," he replied gently, stroking her mind with his own. "I am too important to the cause to be destroyed."

"A little conceited?" she asked with a weak smile.

"Perhaps," he chuckled as he continued down the road.

She relaxed against his seat, her eyelids flickering slightly as she tried to fight off her exhaustion. He smiled as he gently began to soothe her into sleep but raising the temperature in his interior slightly. She glared at the steering wheel for a moment before yawning. He leant the seat back slightly, letting her curl up and get comfortable. As he approached the road that led up to the look-out point, he received a data-burst telling him to go up there.

Curious as to who sent the data-burst, he turned onto the road. Caraden blinked slightly out the window before frowning, glancing at the steering wheel again before he pulled up onto the look-out point. She climbed into the back seat as he started to transform, standing up and waiting silently for the person who had sent him the data-burst. A moment later, he heard the roar of approaching jet engines and stiffened as Starscream dropped in front of him, the last of his armor shifting into place.

"Starscream," he growled as he reached back and pulled out his concussion blaster.

"East, Soundwave," Starscream stated calmly, "I am not here to fight. I merely wish to meet this human of yours."

He snarled quietly, quickly setting up a protective barrier along his mind and bond links; Starscream wasn't telepathic but he was determined. Caraden shifted nervously within him and Starscream hazarded a tiny step forward.

"Surely, Soundwave, your human is curious about the Decepticons," he crooned, trying to appear harmless.

He narrowed his optics behind his visor before touching Caraden's mind. She was curious about Starscream, but was frightened by his aggression towards the Seeker; she had learnt that he only grew aggressive in hostile situations.

"You have nothing to fear from me," he added, lifting his arms up slightly to show he was harmless.

He growled before opening his chest compartment, letting Caraden climb onto his awaiting hand. She stood up unnaturally straight, her heart rate increasing as she stared into Starscream's face, a barely audible whimper easing past her lips. She was not use to seeing another mech anywhere near her face when she was standing in Soundwave's hand. He moved a finger gently across her cheek, reassuring her that she would not be harmed. She touched his finger slightly before taking a deep breath and composing herself, all under the scrutinizing gaze of Starscream.

"So, this is your human," Starscream chuckled as he moved forward slowly. "Hmm, interesting."

"Hello," she greeted, keeping her voice even.

Starscream paused, tilting his head to the side before chuckled. "Such a brave little thing," he crooned before darting forward and trying to make a grab for her.

She screamed as she scrambled up his arm and onto his shoulder, her breaths coming out in shallow bursts. He growled at the crouching Seeker, even though he saw that he meant her no real harm; he had just wanted to see how quick her reaction time was. Starscream nodded slightly before straightening up.

"And smart as well," he stated. "She knows better than to let a Decepticon touch her."

"What the hell?" she hissed as she trembled.

"If you're going to be around Decepticons, starts swearing like one," Starscream scolded. "The term is 'Pit', sweetspark."

"Don't you 'sweetspark' me, nacho-face!" she snapped, her eyes narrowing.

Starscream blinked once before he chuckled coldly. "Oh, she'll fit in just perfectly with everyone," he sneered before he took a step forward. "Just remember, meatbag, that none of us would think twice about crushing beneath our feet."

Caraden growled before folding her arms. "Yeah, like you want my guts plastered to your foot for all eternity; blood stains are bitches to clean," she sneered back. It was amazing what a little fear can make humans do in stressful situations.

Starscream moved forward slowly, asking him a mental question before plucking Caraden up. She shrieked and struggled in his hand until she stopped; realizing that she wouldn't get free that way and that it was a long way to the ground, and instead started growling. Starscream stared down at her for a moment, his CPU waves back to their unreadable familiarity, before his optics widened slightly. He uncurled his hand around her, making her sit in the palm of his hand before she sprang to her feet with a snarl. He nodded slightly before handing her back to Soundwave.

"You might want to keep a short leash on her," he stated before he leapt into the air and transformed, "there might be someone interesting in a being like her."

He stared after the jet as it left, trying to figure out what he meant by his cryptic warning. Caraden, however, interrupted him when she collapsed in his hand. He scanned her quickly, relieved when he found that she was only suffering from exhaustion, before he deposited her gently into his chest compartment. He transformed and headed back home.

"Hey, dad," Rumble asked as he transformed and hopped onto his front seat, "why are you looking after a human anyways?"

"Simple, Rumble," he chuckled softly, "she needs me, just as I need her."

Rumble looked back at her as she lay stretched out on his back seat, swatting slightly at Ratbat as he youngest Cassetteicon poked her. "So, it's a 'needing me' situation?" he asked, getting an affirmative down the bond. "Can I call her 'sis'?"

He chuckled softly as he pulled into the driveway and activated his holomatter form. "Of course," he replied as he took Caraden out of the back of his alt. mode.

She shifted slightly in his arms as he headed to the house, his creations following swiftly behind him. He headed upstairs and placed her in her bed, stroking her head gently as a soft hum reverberated through him. Rumble scuttled into the room behind him, hopping up onto his shoulder to stare down at her. His red optics blinked before he smiled and hopped over to her bedside table.

"You know, I think I'm gunna like her as a sister," he chuckled before transforming into his boombox alt. mode.

He sensed Caraden's surprise at the statement before she looked groggily at the boombox. "And I think I'm going to like you as a brother," she replied before she fell asleep.

He chuckled to himself. "They always did want a sister,' he thought to himself before he deactivated his holoform and slipped into recharge.

**Author's note:** Well, there we go…yes, I'm mean for killing her family, but she got a new one. Next chapter will probably be about the funeral and all that stuff. So, I'm sure you all know about the poll on my profile by now. There are three options and each one will yield a different ending depending on which one wins. So, I hope you all go and vote.


	7. Funeral Processions

Chapter 7 Funeral Processions

The little house was quiet in the early hours of the morning. A few small flowers were pushing their way up through the slush-filled flower beds, their delicate stems exposed to the cooled temperatures. Lights were on in the upstairs washroom, the windows fogged up from shower steam. The Hummer sitting in the driveway glinted slightly in the sunlight, appearing as ordinary as the next vehicle, before a loud scream broke the silence and made it snort.

"Frenzy! Get my bra off of your head!" Caraden snarled, charging after the silver mech, dressed only in pajama pants and an undershirt.

"F-f-fleshy can't keep up!" Frenzy taunted, weaving back and for the down the hallways before dashing down the stairs.

Caraden snarled angrily before speeding up, taking the stairs three at a time and almost tripping over Rumble as she took the corner into the kitchen after the escaping mech. Rumble leapt out of the way quickly as she grabbed a frying pan out of the drying rack on the counter and started swinging at Frenzy's head. The silver mech screamed in terror as it missed his head by mere centimeters, quickly followed by several curses as she wound up for another try.

The only thing that stopped her from beating the silver mech's helm in was a large arm wrapping around her waist and holding her back. She struggled for a moment, snarling about shoving Frenzy's head onto a spike and parading it around, before calming down enough for some amount of discipline and order to take hold. Rumble gently pried the frying pan out of her hand and placed it on the counter out of arm's reach.

'Frenzy, return Caraden's breast plating,' Lazerbeak sighed down the mind-link.

He glanced at the condor before sticking his glossa out. "N-n-no!"

Sighing, Soundwave walked over and removed the undergarment from his creations head. He gave him a gentle scolding for taking something of a female's before handing it back to Caraden. She glowered at the silver mech before spinning on her heels and heading back upstairs to dress for the day. Rumble gazed after her before looking up at him curiously.

"What's up with Cara?" he asked.

"Funeral processions today," he replied with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose slightly in irritation.

"Oh," Rumble murmured sadly, instantly understanding.

The funeral for her parents was taking place today, along with the reading of their will. Caraden had been testy for the past week, snapping at them for any reason that cropped up, even if it was menial and unimportant. He had taken the moody nature for a short while before he had told her to find a different outlet for her frustration. She had started taking off after school, jogging down to the lake and back before returning home to eat. It seemed to take away her anger towards them; no doubt some small part of her blamed him for her parents' deaths.

As well as that, she was waking up during the night screaming for her parents to move out of the way. He had taken to getting the other creations to watch over her and alert him if she started thrashing around in her sleep, muttering incoherently, or screaming. Dark circles were forming under her eyes from lack of sleep and she had passed out twice during each of her classes. Valerie was over often to comfort her and it took a great deal of scrambling for his creations to hide from the "intruder" one the first day. After she had turned up a few times though, they grew use to her and ceased hiding, although they never openly accepted her into their midst. Prowl expressed slight concern for Caraden's mental state, but he refused to let the Autobots touch her; Caraden would recover from his support alone. After all, who knew the inner workings of the mind better than he did?

Caraden came back into the kitchen, combing her hair while trying to pull her arm through the sleeve of her shirt. "Batty, where'd hide my dress-shoes?" she asked as she grabbed a pop-tart package out of the cupboard.

Ratbat flicked an ear before flying out of the room. Buzzsaw chirped gently before flying down and landing on the counter beside her. She stroked the golden condor's helm gently as she munched on the pastry, her eyes focused on the ground by her feet. Lazerbeak hopped onto her other side and ran his beak through her hair, getting out the tangles that she had missed in her haste.

"Thanks Laze," she murmured sadly.

Ratbat came back into the room screeching, her shoes held tightly in his claws, and a proud smirk on his face. He dropped them at her feet before flying over to the table and landing, sliding along the flat surface before turning towards her. He wiggled his nose, waiting for praise from her, but only got a curt nod as she pulled her shoes on. He wilted slightly, squeaking unhappily before she walked over and scratched his ears apologetically. He squeaked happily, burying his face into her neck and attempting to hug her. It turned into an awkward hanging position wince his arms did not bend properly to actually reach around her shoulders.

"You're…you're coming right, Soundwave?" she asked, glancing over at him with pleading eyes, one hand on Ratbat's back to hug him back.

He nodded before walking over and wrapping her up in his arms. She sniffled against his chest, hugging him tightly in an attempt to hold herself together. Rumble scuttled over, red optics blinking before he hugged her waist tightly, nuzzling her side.

"Don't cry, sis," he cooed gently. "We're here to protect you now."

She sniffled again, nodding slowly. "I know," she whispered. "But it doesn't stop the pain from being there."

'We will not let you feel such things again,' Lazerbeak cooed down the link.

'We are one family unit,' Buzzsaw agreed.

'We're here to help!' Ratbat shouted happily, flapping his wing and bouncing on the table.

Caraden smiled weakly at them, tears shimmering in her eyes. "Thanks guys," she murmured before she pulled away to finish getting ready.

It didn't take her long to finish preparing for the day. In ten minutes, she was lugging Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, and Ratbat out to Soundwave's body with Rumble and Frenzy walking behind her, hidden behind holograms. Soundwave had the door open waiting for her so she didn't have to put any of the Cassetteicons on the dew-covered ground and she gently placed her "brothers" in the back seat. She left the door open for Rumble and Frenzy while she hopped into the front seat.

"Why does she get shotgun?" Rumble asked.

"Because I don't look like a twelve-year-old," she replied bluntly as she buckled herself in.

"Fair enough," he replied as he settled down on the backseat beside his twin.

The ride to the cemetery was silent, giving Caraden some much needed time to compose herself for the gathering. Soundwave gave his creations orders to behave themselves and not draw attention to the fact that they were not from Earth. They agreed before he pulled into the cemetery parking lot, although Frenzy was the most reluctant since he did not trust humans. There were a few other cars parked around them, black clad owners whispering in small groups a short distance away. Caraden swallowed before opening the door and climbing out, careful not to slam the door shut behind her since he wasn't another inanimate car. Frenzy and Rumble scrambled out behind her, one of the identical boys holding a "snoozing" brown bat in his coat. Soundwave came around his alt. mode, Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw sitting quietly on his shoulders, hooded to make them appear tamed to anyone else around them. They were all clad in black like the other people present, making them all appear even paler than they normally were.

Whispers started up like buzzing bees, dark glares shot in their direction as Caraden began to lean heavily on his arm, her knees going to jelly underneath her. Rumble; or Frenzy, they looked too much alike in holoform; stood by her elbow, petting Ratbat's head as he sniffed the air. The other twin stood beside Soundwave, shifting slightly and glancing up at the stoic man beside him. Soundwave gave a soft hum before nudging Caraden forward, telling her to head over to the whispering pack of people. She swallowed again before heading over, the three men following her lead.

"Caraden!" one of the black-clad women cried. "Darling, how you've grown!"

Caraden winced slightly as a thin woman with a face of someone that did not smile very often strode forward to hug her. "Hello, Aunt Guinevere," she replied with a forced smile. "It hasn't been that long, has it?"

"Too long in my opinion," she retorted as she tried to drag her away. "So unfortunate; your mother was such a dear."

Caraden dug her heels in, an almost feral snarl set on her mouth. "Yes, it is, isn't it?" she growled before tugging her arm back. "But, I don't want your pity, and I doubt my parents want it either."

The woman looked shocked for a moment before her eyes darkened. "Young lady, I will not be spoken to like that. Apologize and redeem yourself for such blatant disrespect," she ordered.

Caraden seemed to twitch on the spot, her mind flying in a hundred directions, insults, curses, and accusations flying around until she settled on one. "I will not apologize for speaking the truth; my mother did not accept your pity and neither will I," she stated with a calm detachment.

The woman seemed to grow in rage before Caraden walked past her. A middle-aged man with graying black hair smirked before walking idly over to her. He gave her a broad smile before hugging her tightly. She stiffened momentarily before relaxing and returning the hug with true affection behind it.

"Hello there little Caramel," the man joked. "Pissing off darling Guinevere, again, as usual, are we?"

"It's good to see you too, Uncle Camren," she laughed. "And yes, I am, but it isn't really that hard to do."

Camren chuckled before looking up at Soundwave. "Forgive my sister's lack of manners; I'm Camren Rutherford, Caraden's uncle," he greeted, hold his hand out and beaming.

Soundwave shook the man's hand and nodded, sensing that he was a favourite of Caraden's. "Socrates Wayland," he replied before gesturing to Rumble and Frenzy, who had taken to hiding shyly behind him. "Robert and Fredrick, my sons."

"Single parent huh?" Camren asked after shaking the twins' hands. "Not an easy thing to do."

Rumble; Caraden was positive that it was Rumble now; held up Ratbat, who hissed from being exposed to the bright lights. "This is Ratbat," he announced proudly. "Dad's letting me look after him until he's big enough to return to the wild."

"Pretty cute," Camren commented. "Won't be long 'til his release, I'd say; he's quite a big baby."

"That's because he's always eating," Frenzy snorted.

Lazerbeak cawed at him, making Camren jump. "Condors?" he asked. "I thought that falconry consisted of birds of prey, not carcass-pickers."

Lazerbeak ruffled his feathers angrily before Caraden sighed. "Unc, don't talk trash about condors just because one pooped on you at a zoo," she scolded. "And don't give me that 'one of them chased me around in Arizona' story again."

Camren laughed before glancing at the condors. "They get names too or are they just One and Two?" he asked.

"Laze," he replied, stroking Lazerbeak's head, "And Buzz," he added as he stroked Buzzsaw's belly.

"Cute," he chuckled before frowning and looking around his side. "Friends of yours?" he asked, pointing at three approaching men.

Caraden frowned. "Big guy?" she asked, tugging Camren back a few paces as she sensed that they were Decepticons.

He nodded before facing the men, his eyes narrowing in annoyance. The leader, a tall man with sandy blond hair, high cheekbones, athletic build, and tanned skin wearing blue jeans and a red shirt, smirked at him before bowing. "A pleasure meeting you here, _Socrates_," Starscream stated.

"What is your reason for attending?" Soundwave demanded.

"Well, since the stolen military vehicle came from our base, I figured the polite thing to do would attend the funeral of the poor people that were killed," he replied smoothly.

"You really have a way of talking," Caraden snapped as she stepped forward, hands on her hips in an attempt to appear braver.

"Caraden, my dear," Starscream almost purred, "such harsh words! I would have thought you'd be happy to see me!"

"Considering you dangled me above the ground the last time we met, no," she replied before Camren tapped her shoulder.

"Who…?" he started to ask before Starscream stuck out his hand.

"Stephen Sternly," he stated in a snobbish tone. "These are my brothers, Theodore and Sean," he added, gesturing to the men beside him.

"Camren," he replied, giving Starscream's hand a brief shake. He glanced over his shoulder at the congregation and sighed bitterly as they made beckoning gestures. "And, unfortunately, that is my cue to return to my lovely relatives," he grumbled before turning around and heading back.

Caraden glanced at Starscream before looking at his brothers. "And you two are?" she asked, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice.

"Thundercracker," the man on the left of Starscream stated in a gruff drawl, a rather bored expression set on his features.

"Skywarp," the other replied, grinning widely and winking, "best looking mech in the whole army."

Caraden smirked as she took in the two holograms. Thundercracker towered over her, but he didn't give off the same aura of malevolence that the other Decepticons did. He had the same high cheekbones as Starscream, dark brown hair with blue highlights, a perfectly toned body, and full lips; which she noted a little too quickly for her own liking. He was wearing faded jeans and a dark blue and white shirt with a set of sunglasses hidden in his hair. She noted the red tinges in his brown eyes and shivered slightly; why did the robots have to be so unnaturally handsome? It wasn't fair considering they were fake.

Skywarp was tall as well, with long, toned limbs and a muscular chest. His hair was jet black with purple highlights, long, and hanging in his eyes, perfectly hiding his red irises. He too had the high cheekbones and the typical pretty-boy look to him. His clothing was all black, fitting in perfectly with the mood, unlike the other two. He grinned, showing perfectly white, straight teeth before walking forward, taking her hand in his, and kissing it.

"_Au chante, mademoiselle_," he cooed, grinning down at her.

Caraden swallowed before grinning nervously. "Ok, the hot holograms flirt. This is so wrong on so many levels," she squeaked.

Skywarp laughed before hugging her close and nuzzling her. "She's so cute!" he laughed as she yelped in surprise. "Can I keep her, Soundwave? Please?"

"Negative," Soundwave replied as he gently pried her away from Skywarp. "Caraden must remain with her own kind."

"Aw," Skywarp whined, "but she's so cute!"

Caraden felt extremely uncomfortable now, her body confused at the affection shown by Skywarp. She huddled closely to her guardian's chest, breathing heavily to try to regain her control and composure. Sound let out several electronic noises that made Skywarp blink in shock before muttering in reply, kicking at the ground with the toe of his shoe. Soundwave snorted before stroking her hair and leading them into the cemetery after her relatives.

They wandered past hundreds of tombstones, barely paying them much attention before they stopped at a set of holes. Caraden sniffled weakly as she stood up straight and waited for a moment before she looked back the way they came and tears welled up in her eyes. He turned to see what was wrong and understood immediately; two caskets were being hauled towards them, held on the shoulders of six men each. Camren led the first coffin over, his eyes filled with pain as they stood there and waited for the speaker's speech to be given before lowering their caskets. He briefly wondered if the pain was from the fact that a relative was in the casket or if the casket was just really heavy.

Guinevere stepped forward and cleared her throat. "We all have come here to pay our final respects to our beloved family and friends. My youngest sister and her new husband are gone, killed by a drunken fool in a military vehicle," she stated calmly, dabbing around her eyes with a handkerchief to at least make it look like she was crying. "They are gone, leaving darling Caraden alone, but our love for them will keep their beings alive."

Several of the other mourners nodded to each other. Starscream let out a fake yawn behind them and Caraden took great care to step onto his foot without anyone noticing. He hissed at her before Camren cleared his throat to capture everyone's attention. He grinned at them, shifting around to set the coffin on his shoulders comfortably.

"Ok, I'm not the only one thinking that the baby of our family deserves a better eulogy than that," he chuckled before sighing. "Carmen was a happy person, content with everything she had and never asking for more. She tried to make everyone else happy and she sure as hell did a good job. A single mother until a year ago, she struggled to give Caraden everything she wanted. They pulled through together, supporting each other and being closer than best friends."

"Then, a miracle happened; Carmen ran into John at a job conference. They connected instantly and, two years later, were married. Yours truly was in attendance to see her off since dad had passed away already, and commented on how their life was going to go. John was no Patrick, but he made her happy again, killing the lonesomeness that had plagued her since his passing. Now that she is gone, I know Patrick will be waiting to greet her in heaven and meet John at last. And, as closing words, I say this; Carmen is going to have one hell of a good time up there with her two lovers. Have fun, baby sister, have fun," he finished, sniffling and wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket.

Caraden smiled through her tears before moving forward to stand beside her uncle. He nodded to her, giving her his signature grin before she took a deep breath and faced everyone. "My mother was my hero; she showed that women can do things on our own and live life properly, all without the need of a man. She worked hard to put me through school, put food in our stomachs, and still be there when I needed her. When she started seeing John, I was jealous at first, but then I saw that he made her happy and I accepted him. He wasn't a father figure to me; he wasn't there at the right time to be that; but I still called him 'Dad' none-the-less. He was my mother's husband and therefore was my dad, although I slipped up often and called him 'John' He bought me my first real car, or rather Hummer, and moved us here."

"Because of him, I met Valerie; my best friend, who is recovering from a cold; Sam and Mikaela; who are out of town meeting each other's family; and Miles; who is likely sprawled out on his bed and snoring his head off; all who are close to each other. They were there for me the whole week after my parents' passing, leaving only at night to sleep," she paused to wipe her tears away. "My parents are gone, they are never coming back, but I can never forget them. I never will, I never plan to, and I know no one else will. I just hope they're happy, wherever they are now. God, my mom's probably hovering over Hawaii right now working on her tan," she sniffed and laughed. She rested a hand on the casket. "Rest in peace, mom," she whispered.

Camren nodded before he led the other casket bearers to one of the open holes. They grunted before they lowered the casket slowly and carefully into the hole. Then, they shoveled dirt over it, mumbling good-byes until the casket was buried, the soil patted down to hide the scar. Then the process was repeated for the other casket. When they finished, they lowered their heads in respect before heading back to the parking lot.

Soundwave walked over to Caraden and hugged her. She hid her face in his chest, crying quietly before Camren stroked her hair. She looked back and him and sniffled, "Yeah?"

"They're going to read the will now," he stated gently. "Socrates can come if you want him to; I give you full permission."

She nodded before pulling away and wiping her eyes again. "Kay."

Camren smiled before hugging her tightly and leading them towards the church. The Seeker brothers appeared beside them, demanding to be in attendance as well. Camren was slightly surprised at the demand of the men, but shrugged and allowed them entrance, even with Guinevere whining about too many non-family members in attendance.

"Ignore her," Caraden sighed as she sat down beside Camren at the front of the room, just off the main area of the church. "She's just an old grouch."

"Well put," Camren laughed before motioning the other four men to sit down.

Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw cawed softly from Soundwave's shoulders, causing many of the others to cry out in terror. Caraden rolled her eyes before gently picking Buzzsaw up and sitting him on her lap, running a finger along his back in silent awe of his soft feathers. The brilliantly coloured condor settled down, tucking his head under his wing to feign sleeping. Grumbles rang out before the lawyer walked in holding her parents' will.

"Is this everyone?" he asked.

"Plus a few extras," Camren replied with a nod.

"Very well," the lawyer replied before sitting himself down behind the desk in the office. He cleared his throat before placing the papers on the table. "If in the misfortune of our passing, we give, in all legality, custody over our daughter, Caraden Mazer, to her godfather, Camren Rutherford. In addition, all our belongings, estate, and money are in the sole possession of Caraden. Should she have passed with us, all possessions will go to Camren. Signed John and Carmen Smith," he read.

There was a heavy silence in the room before Camren spoke. "Is that all?" he asked calmly. "There are no other legalities that you skipped over?"

"That is all," the lawyer replied before standing up.

"Impossible!" Guinevere shouted, rising to her feet. "Carmen is much more sophisticated! She must have left others with rights!"

The others shifted nervously in their seats before Caraden rose, Buzzsaw hissing in her arms. "What were you expecting, dear Auntie?" she asked. "Half of their earnings? All of my mother's jewelry?"

"I've earned my rights for helping her financially for the past seven years!" she snarled.

Caraden opened her mouth to retort before Soundwave rose and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Cease actions," he ordered.

She growled but ceased fighting with her aunt, starting to rub her cheek against Buzzsaw's wing. He cawed gently to her, running his beak through her hair soothingly. She sighed softly before straightening up and giving the lawyer an apologetic smile.

"Sorry you have to hear our family squabble," she apologized.

"This happens often," he replied before leaving quickly.

"Caraden," Camren called, "I'm going to be heading home now. I want you to come and visit me to decide if you want to stay in your house or move in with me," he added before hugging her shoulders. "I don't expect you to choose right away. Just come down for a visit on the weekend, get a look at the town, and then decide."

She nodded slowly. "I'll meet you there; I really need to get out of town," she replied before smiling.

He kissed her forehead before heading for the door. She was quick to follow him, leading the holograms outside. Rumble and Frenzy were leaning against Soundwave's tires, Ratbat poking his nose out to breath. Camren got into his old pickup and backed out, waving out the window before heading for Mission City some three hours away.

"All done?" Rumble asked before climbing to his feet.

"Yeah," she sighed before opening Soundwave's door. The Seeker brothers went around to Soundwave's other side to vanish from sight. In the distance, jet engines whirled to life before three F-22 Raptors roared by overhead. "Now that's traveling in style," she laughed.

Soundwave chuckled before they all climbed in and headed back home. They were silent again, the holograms fading away to reveal the mech beneath. Rumble hopped onto the back of her seat and clicked at her curiously from the headrest.

"Why'd ya lie about your friends?" he asked. "They didn't know about the funeral."

"They didn't need to know about it," she replied. "Not even those in attendance cared. Other than Camren, but he and my mom were always close."

Rumble hummed softly until they pulled into the driveway, almost crashing into Prowl's tailgate as the mech slid backwards at them. Caraden yelped as he swerved to avoid the Mustang as it practically backed into him. She hopped out and walked over to the black car, slamming her hands down on his tailgate.

"What the hell, Prowl?" she growled. "You just tried to hit Soundwave!"

"Forgive me, young Caraden," he replied, "but it was the easies way to get your attention."

"Why?" she demanded.

"Valerie has proposed that we go to Mission City for a 'shopping spree' and help cheer you up," he stated in his usual calm voice.

"I was heading that way anyways," she replied. "I'm spending the weekend at my uncle's."

"I will go collect Valerie, Sam, Mikaela, Miles, Bumblebee, and Beachcomber," he stated. "I will be back in an hour."

She gave a brief wave before the black Mustang backed off and drove away. Soundwave pulled in beside her, snorting in disgust at Prowl's actions. The side door opened and the twins darted out, hiding in the bushes to avoid catching any of the neighbor's attention. She leant across the back seat to pick up the other Cassettes, careful not to jostle them too much as she headed for the door. Rumble opened it for her before scuttling in.

'Freedom!' Ratbat cried as he transformed and flew away. 'No more shirts, no more worms, no more people's dirty looks!'

"You're a freak, Ratbat," Caraden called after him as she set Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw down on the table to let them transform.

Rumble snickered before clambering onto the counter. "So, we're coming too, right?" he asked, blinking his red optics at her.

"Yes, I'm not leaving a bunch of men behind to go through my clothes," she replied with a smirk as she began to make herself a sandwich.

"Touché," Rumble laughed before flopping down to sit out of the way. "Why don't you get along with that aunt of yours?" he asked.

"Because she does nothing but complain," Caraden replied as she opened a can of tuna.

"But she's still your aunt," Rumble pushed.

"She's done nothing for my mother and me to show that we can trust her," she replied as she tore into her tuna sandwich hungrily. "She kept nagging my mom to get with someone to create a "stable environment" for me," she snorted. "Stupid glitch even threatened to call Child Services and let them take me away."

"Hag's got issues," Rumble snorted before smirking. "You realize that you used a Cybertronian curse, right?"

"I've been hanging around you guys too much," she laughed as she licked her fingers clean of any tuna; she had become almost unceremoniously messy when it came to eating fish as of late.

'You look like a cat,' Buzzsaw commented.

"I feel like one!" she replied before heading upstairs to pack and get changed into something other than dress pants and a blouse.

Soundwave kept watch from the driveway, waiting for the Autobots to return. Their relationship was strained since Megatron's return; they wanted to take Caraden out of his care, arguing that she was not safe now that his loyalties to the Decepticons were rekindled. Caraden had refused a guardian change, claiming that Soundwave would never let anything hurt her. They still tried to change her mind, inviting her into their base to get to know them better, develop a bond with one of them, and then allow the change in guardianship occur. They were unaware of just how deep their bond ran, how much he would do to protect her at all costs. She was his "creation" and he would protect her with his like, as would his creations.

He sensed Prowl reenter the area that was claimed as his territory and alerted his creations. They all reacted accordingly, waiting patiently for a signal to move out. Caraden came out with a suitcase and Lazerbeak's stereo alt. mode tucked under her arm. She walked over, "opening" the side door before lifting the suitcase into the back seat. Prowl pulled in beside her, blocking off her route back to the house.

"Ready to go?" Valerie asked as she got out of the driver's seat.

"Almost," she replied before placing Lazerbeak on the back seat, "just got a few more things to get."

"I can run in for you," she offered.

"That…wouldn't be wise," Caraden sighed before walking around Prowl's fender.

"Why not?" she asked as she followed Caraden up the front steps. "I mean, it's not like you're harboring fugitives," she joked.

Caraden gave a short laugh before picking up Buzzsaw and Ratbat. "Rumble, Frenzy, we're leaving," she called.

Frenzy rushed past, shouting in Cybertronian and waving his arms over his head. Rumble followed, flashing Valerie a grin before taking off after his twin. Valerie shivered as they left the house, locking the door behind them. Valerie reached out to pick up Ratbat and was hissed at, causing her to jump in alarm. Caraden scolded him before hefting him onto her shoulder and heading for Soundwave.

"Why don't they like me?" Valerie asked a she leant on Prowl's hood.

"Because you reek of Autobot," Soundwave chuckled, causing Prowl to rev his engine in warning while Valerie rolled her eyes.

"And here I thought we could be friends," she sighed dramatically.

"F-f-fat chance, fleshbag," Frenzy growled before squealing and grabbing Caraden's arm. "Witwicky!"

Sam froze as he got out of Bumblebee, brown eyes wide at the silver mech. "Oh no."

Frenzy went to go charge forward when his sharp fingers sliced into Caraden's arm, causing her to scream in pain. "Frenzy, halt actions immediately!"

He materialized beside her, wrapping his arms quickly around her, and pulling her close to him. She whimpered weakly, more surprised than in pain, but allowed him to gently pry her hand off of her arm and assess the damage. The wound wasn't deep and wasn't in need of stitches, but would need to be cleaned and wrapped to make sure it did not get infected. He looked at Frenzy where he stood shaking, both in fear of repercussion and the need to capture Samuel Witwicky, and gave him a silent order. He nodded quickly before taking off into the house through Caraden's slightly ajar basement window. He was out five minutes later as Beachcomber and Miles pulled up, holding the first aid kit.

"Soundwave," Prowl growled as he set Caraden down on his own hood and got out the wet wipes to clean away the blood, "we need to talk."

"Caraden is fine; minor scratch," he replied as he cleaned away the blood from the wound.

'It could have been worse,' Prowl growled in his mind.

'Frenzy did not intentionally harm her,' he replied calmly as he ran a rubbing-alcohol covered cotton swab over the cut, causing her to hiss in pain.

'She is not safe with the Cassetteicons! Surely you realize that?!' Prowl bellowed.

'Caraden is not to be harmed,' he replied calmly, wrapping the linen around her arm a few times, holding it out for Rumble to cut.

'You cannot ensure that,' he pushed.

'The Cassetteicons show complete obedience,' he replied as he put the fastener in place. 'They do not disobey.'

"You ok, Caraden?" Valerie asked, leaning forward to get a good look at her friend.

"Yeah," she replied as she pulled her jacket on since her sweater had a hold in it now. "I was more startled than hurt."

"That's good," she sighed before getting into Prowl.

Caraden nodded before hopping down and climbing into the passenger side of her guardian. Frenzy and Rumble hopped into the back as Soundwave pulled out of the yard. The other Cassetteicons transformed and stretched their limbs out, excited at the prospect of a road trip.

"Yoh, this is the Yellow Bug to Big Blue, come in Big Blue," Sam's voice rang out through the radio, using Bumblebee's com-link.

"Sam, don't abuse that thing," Caraden laughed as she fumbled with the dial so that she could send a signal to all the others and not just back to Sam.

"Miles' idea," he replied. "So, what are you planning?"

"Visiting my uncle for the weekend," she replied. "I might be moving in with him after the school year."

"No!" Valerie cried out. "We'll never get to see you!"

"There's something called 'weekends' and 'shopping'," Caraden laughed. "We'll get by just fine."

"Yeah, good point," Valerie laughed.

At some point during the three hour trip, Miles started singing "The Song That Never Ends", to which Sam, Bumblebee, Beachcomber, Caraden, and Rumble joined in. Frenzy joined in after he realized what the words were. Valerie started making background noise with "I Know a Song", to which Mikaela joined in. Soundwave could feel Prowl's outrage at the annoying songs, and started humming along quietly. Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, and Ratbat were singing a Cybertronian song, adding it in to the cacophony.

"Louder!" Rumble shouted, prodding his dashboard when he heard the soft humming. "Come on, big guy!"

He chuckled before adding his monotone to the mix, earning a loud whoop from Caraden. "This is the song that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my friends! Some people started singing…," everyone sang.

"Sing something else!" Prowl roared over the noise.

"99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer," Sam sang out.

"Take one down, pass it around," Mikaela and Valerie sang.

"98 bottles of beer on the wall!" Caraden shouted.

Prowl groaned in agony as the Cassetteicons cheered. Soundwave laughed again, encouraging his creations to join in. 'Soundwave, I'm killing you in the next battle,' Prowl growled.

'As Caraden often says; bring it,' he replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'Are we there yet?'

'No.'

'How about now?'

"No."

"Are we…?"

'Ratbat, if you ask that one more time, I will personally throw you out of Creator and into oncoming traffic. Then, hot wire Creator so I can run you over!' Lazerbeak snapped.

Ratbat fell silent at last, earning a sigh from Caraden, who had stopped singing after her throat felt dry. They had stopped at a gas station earlier to let Miles out to relieve himself and she had gotten some oil cans for her "brothers" to drink. After that they had gotten everything they needed, they had started back on their way. Caraden was leaning against the window in boredom, watching the rock formations that had popped up.

"One little, two little, three little Minicons; four little, five little six little Minicons; seven little, eight little, nine little Minicons; ten little Minicon mechs," Rumble sang, only to get pecked by Buzzsaw. "OW!"

"Enough," Soundwave ordered as a sign saying "Mission City- 10 miles" flew past them.

"Yeah, 10 miles left," Valerie cheered. "Good thing too, cuz I gotta pee!"

Caraden smirked before sighing. "I feel all cramped up," she groaned. "And I can feel the bones in my butt."

Valerie laughed as they drove into the city. They stopped at a small restaurant for the humans to eat lunch and use the washroom. Rumble shoved a contact device into Caraden's hand, telling her to push it if she needed help. They vanished inside, some squirming in discomfort from full blades. He settled down on his tires to rest, Prowl, Bumblebee, and Beachcomber mimicking him, as they waited for their charges.

He awoke to a wailing of sirens. Rumble and Frenzy had their faces against the window, muttering back and forth to each other. They shivered as a speeding police car went flying by, glancing at the steering wheel.

"Barricade," Bumblebee stated.

"He is busy," Soundwave replied, catching the Mustang's enraged mental patterns.

He looked back at the restaurants as the charges walked out, content looks on their faces. Caraden stretched her arms over her head, chatting happily with Valerie, who looked like she had eaten just a tad too much.

"Cool, car chase," Miles commented as he hopped onto Beachcomber's hood.

"More like angry Decepticon out for blood," Caraden snorted.

"He is of no problem, at the moment," Prowl soothed. "You are in no danger, little ones."

"Good to know," Valerie chimed as they climbed back into their guardians.

Ratbat sniffed her shoulder as she sat down. "You had fish for lunch," he commented.

"Popcorn shrimp and lobster," she replied after buckling up. "Red Lobster has the best seafood around."

Soundwave frowned, worried about Caraden's obsession with fish. Due to the high amounts of poisonous mercury build-up, she was running a huge risk at poisoning herself. She leant against his seat and patted Ratbat's head, earning happy clicks from the youngest of the creations. He smiled as she hugged him over the seat, planting a kiss on his nose that made him squirm. If nothing else, she was healthy and happy with them, and that was what mattered. He put his worrying aside, following Bumblebee into traffic to get to the mall, and instead focused on the cars around him.

When they finally reached the mall, they had to drive around for a bit to find a parking space. Bumblebee and Beachcomber wound up on the roof of the parking garage, Prowl on the floor level with the shopping mall, and Soundwave in the basement/underground parking. Caraden gave them a quick good-bye before sprinting for the upper floors to find the others. Of course, the darkness of the parking lot might have made her slightly edgy; you never know who could turn up.

"Well," Rumble snorted as he hopped into the front seat, "this is boring."

"A-a-agreed!" Frenzy chirped as he crawled up beside his brother.

"Patience, little ones," he cooed to them. "We will get to be with Caraden and have fun soon."

"Hope so," Rumble replied before curling up to recharge.

He smiled mentally before settling down for recharge himself. He woke twenty minutes later to whisper and someone touching his door handle. He glanced at the human males trying to open his door and snorted softly. The two hoodlums kept whispering to each other, completely ignoring him.

'Frenzy, Rumble, operation; scare tactics,' he ordered.

Frenzy and Rumble were quickly on his driver seat, grinning viciously at the outlines of the males. He unlocked the door silently, waiting for them to grab the handle again. Sure enough, in the next moment, one of the boys grabbed the handle and started opening it.

"What the hell?" he whispered as the door started to open. "Wasn't it locked a second ago?"

"You're right," Rumble stated before he kicked the door open gently.

"What is that?!" they shouted in terror, backing away as Rumble and Frenzy stalked out of him.

"Name's Rumble," Rumble snickered as they walked forward. "This is my bro Frenzy."

"F-f-fleshbags," Frenzy growled before changing his arms into machine guns. "I s-s-should destroy you."

"We have our orders, Frenzy," Rumble scolded gently.

Frenzy chittered angrily before turning on the boys. 'Please, Creator, can I kill them? I've been really good!'

'No, Frenzy; we cannot kill them so close to the others,' Soundwave replied.

'Chase them away and kill them?' he begged.

'No,' he replied. 'Scare only.'

Frenzy grumbled before leaping forward and snarling at the two men. Rumble charged, roaring at them and lifting his sharp fingers over his head in an attack. The men shouted in fear, earning cackles of glee from the twins, before they turned and tried to get away, shoving the other in hopes of leaving them behind to get killed. The twins were careful to remain slower than the startled prey, shouting and snarling in Cybertronian until they had chased them to the edge of the underground parking lot. When the humans were gone, they gave each other high-fives before racing back and hopping back into his front seat.

'Well done,' he praised them before they climbed into the back seat with their brothers and got ready for recharge.

Just as he was about to settle down and go into recharge again, he heard an explosion just a block away. His snapped to attention, pausing only long enough to catch who was in the city before firing up his engine and tearing out of the parking lot. He sent a mental order to Caraden to stay with Valerie and Prowl and get out of the city ASAP, before streaking down the street towards the fight.

He transformed quickly, using his shoulder to shove one of the larger Autobots that he didn't care who they were aside. The Autobot yelped in surprise before Thundercracker flew by overhead, sending a well shout sonic boom at the ground in front of the defending Autobots. They were sent flying, smashing into the buildings and following on the sidewalk that terrified humans were running on. They almost crushed several underneath them, but the screaming mounds of pathetic flesh continued to run away screaming and yelling.

He spotted Ratchet racing towards him and snorted before pressing the button on his shoulder. "Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, eject. Operation, medical interference," he droned out.

Both condors burst out of his chest before screeching in delight at the prospect of a fight. They flew straight at the medic, causing him to cry out in shock, before dive bombing him, raking their talons into his helm. Rumble and Frenzy were silently begging to be released before he was hit from behind and sent crashing into the ground. He snarled and rolled over, glaring up at Beachcomber.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, man," he groaned out, "but that's low."

"Back off, hippy," he growled in reply before punching him in the face and getting to his feet. "Rumble, Frenzy, eject. Operation, hippy deterrent," he ordered, pressing the button on his shoulder again.

Rumble and Frenzy flew out, not wasting a moment before attacking Beachcomber. He snorted before standing up again, ready to attack another enemy. He spotted Prowl charging at into the fight and felt his spark still in terror. They locked optics and he saw the slight smirk on his mouth.

'Where is Caraden?' he snarled.

'Shouldn't you know? You are her guardian,' he replied snidely.

'What did you do with her?!' he snarled before charging at him and grabbing his throat. "Where is Caraden?" he growled.

He stared up at him defiantly before howling in pain as he started tearing his arm off, distracting him long enough for him to dig through his mind and find what he was looking for. Caraden was with the other humans being evacuated from the city; she'd be at her uncle's when the fight was over. He snorted before turning and throwing the Autobot SIC as far as he could, watching in amusement as he smashed into the ground, bouncing back up a few times before rolling.

'Dad!' Rumble shouted before he came tearing over to him. 'Caraden pushed that contacter I gave her! She's in trouble.'

He froze for a moment before pressing the button on his shoulder. "Ratbat, eject. Operation, find Caraden," he ordered.

Ratbat screeched before taking off, heading for the coordinates that Rumble had given him. But, even from the huge distance, he caught the faint sound of a scream, a very familiar female scream.

"Caraden!"

**Author's note:** Holy cow! I think that's the longest chapter I've ever written! Maybe, not really sure. Anyways, as you can see, this one is really dragged out. I'm not sure if that's how a funeral actually works, but what the heck. Well, you see, the point of her not getting along with her family is that big families tend to do that. You won't get along with everyone and there is always one or two siblings that you really get along well with. Her mother and her uncle were always really close so yeah. Sorry if I seem cruel for not giving them a lot of limelight and not knowing their personality, but they really were not that important of characters. Also, Camren's last name came from my chemistry class (which I was thinking about for some odd reason); Rutherford is one of the inventors of the Bohr-Rutherford diagrams, you know, the really complicated drawings of the atoms? So yeah, the poll will be up for a little while longer, just to see which will win; two of them were neck and neck at one point…and sorry for the lack of options.


	8. Transformation

Chapter 8 Transformation

Smoke choked the air around her, making the buildings and streets fade away behind the curtain of grey. The contact device was clenched tightly in her hand, held close to her chest as she raced through the streets. Maybe slipping away from the others hadn't been her brightest idea in the world, but she wanted to know that Soundwave was still here. He was too far away from her to feel his mind-link, and she was scared; didn't Sam run to Bumblebee when he was terrified out of his mind? It was natural to run for their guardian right? Even if hers was a Decepticon, it didn't make much of a difference. He protected her and kept her safe from everything; this wasn't any different.

She coughed as she stumbled down the street, trying to wave the smoke away from her face so she could see. She could hear people screaming around her, shoving her back the way she came as they all made mad dashes for the city limits. She fought against the onslaught of panicking people, struggling to get her feet to stay firmly underneath her so she didn't go down and be trampled under the stampede. She managed to spot an opening and darted into an alleyway, panting to catch her breath. She could still hear the screams before something screeched and flew into her alley. She screamed on reflex and ducked, hitting the ground with her arms over her head.

Something landed beside her and screeched again before nudging her. She looked up and met a pair of red optics staring at her from around a snout. She sighed in relief before swinging her arms around Ratbat and hugging him close. He snickered before nuzzling her in return, clicking slightly before pulling back to flap his wings. She stared at him before groaning and covering her face.

"Ratbat, I don't speak Cybertronian!" she moaned.

He clicked at her before flapping his wings again, flying around her for a moment. She shook her head before trying to get him to settle down. He screeched before flying off back into the street, leaving her behind. She shouted after him, but was only met by an eerie silence. She swallowed nervously before backing farther into the alleyway, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. She wouldn't put it past any of the other Decepticons to come after her and attempt to kill just because she was a human, Soundwave's charge or not. She, surprisingly, found a discarded handgun hidden in a box; probably a homeless man's last line of defense. She checked to see if it had any bullets, saw that it had five left, swallowed nervously, and held onto it tightly. She might never had fired anything close to what this handgun was capable of, but she would use it if push came to shove.

There was a thud somewhere above her and she looked up in time to see part of a fire escape heading for her. She screamed and flattened herself against the wall of another building, watching it come closer and closer, unable to do anything else but stare on. She closed her eyes, turning her head away, and waited for the metal to crush her, turning her into a bloody smear on the pavement. There was a shout before she heard a loud crunching noise, followed by a loud Cybertronian curse. She opened her eyes, finding the fire escape being held just above her head, and quickly darted away before it came down on her head. The moment she was far enough away, it landed on the ground with enough force to cause the concrete to tremble under her feet.

"Aren't you lucky," a voice called from on top of the building. She looked up and met red optics halfway down the side of the building. The black face grinned at her before falling onto the ground, shaking the concrete again. "Ow."

She gripped the gun tightly in her hand as the black mech stood up, shaking himself off, his large wings trembling. He glanced at her and grinned before leaning down to be eye level with her. She backed up, her heart hammering in her chest, and swallowed back tears as the mech's face came a little closer. His optic ridges furrowed before understanding dawned in his optics and he pulled back.

"You don't recognize me?" he asked, grinning.

"Should I?" she asked.

The mech laughed before activating his hologram to stand in front of her, cheesy grin on his face. She blinked before throwing her arms around Skywarp's neck in relief, trembling slightly as adrenaline continued to course through her. He chuckled as he hugged her back, holding her tightly before he began to stroke her hair. She blinked up at him curiously before he grinned again.

"You humans," he chuckled, "are so easily scared."

"I was faced by a giant alien robot the size of a three story house," she replied. "Yeah I was scared!"

He smirked before his hologram vanished, leaving her to stumble slightly. She glared up at the black mech in front of her, left hand on her hip as she let her right hand dangle with the gun. He reached out a clawed finger and poked her slightly, causing her to yip in surprise and fall backwards onto her backside. She glared at him as he snickered, crouching down still as he leant over her, his face plate inches from hers.

"Still scared?" he asked, sending a wave of warm air crashing down on her.

"No, now I'm pissed," she replied as she tried to stand up.

Skywarp laughed before scooping her up in his hand, earning another yelp, before dropping her onto his shoulder. He smirked at her before he leapt forward, powering his thrusters up to land on the building next to them. She clutched the armor on his shoulders, eyes wide in surprise before she heard Ratbat screeching beside her. She looked at the mechanical bat and smiled as he flopped down beside her, rubbing his head happily against hers.

"Hey Batty," she whispered as she hugged him.

He squeaked in reply, snuggling closer as Skywarp started moving again. She glanced around, finally able to see past all the smoke, and winced slightly. Most of the city was destroyed, the broken skeletons of buildings stabbing into the sky, smoke billowing out of them. Fires raged around inside buildings, the smell of burning rock and metal stinging her nose, and a part of her knew that the metallic smell was not only from burning buildings. She swallowed down a wave of nausea and shivered, huddling against Skywarp's head as they continued on, the large Seeker crouching down to power up his thrusters in order to fly up to the top of a still standing skyscraper.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"I think…I can smell…flesh burning," she whimpered, covering her mouth to stop from throwing up.

"Oh," he replied, coughing slightly as Ratbat screeched softly. "Well, uh, not much we can do about that."

She covered her mouth and nodded sadly, avoiding looking out into the streets as Skywarp continued to head from building to building. Ratbat wrapped a wing around her shoulders, his head lowered slightly to look her in the eye. She cuddled into the large Cassette's side, drawing comfort from her "brother" as he held her. He was use to war, she wasn't, and the numerous dead were not his kind and he had nothing to regret about killing them. She didn't expect him to get some new insight about humans just because he was living with her; she was a lesser organism compared to them and therefore, not worth the effort to care about. At least, her species was pathetic to them.

She looked up when Skywarp stopped, blinking at the other two mechs that looked similar to him. One of them was nursing half an arm, grumbling under his breath, not bothering to look up as Skywarp stood in front of him. The other one was Starscream, rubbing energon off of his cheek while snarling in Cybertronian. He glanced up, looking directly at her and she waved slightly, earning a low chuckle as he stood up. He asked Skywarp something in Cybertronian, to which Skywarp chuckled and agreed with by nodding his head.

"Scared, little Caraden?" Starscream sneered.

"Only of your face," she replied sweetly, earning a snicker from Ratbat.

Starscream leant in closer to her before snorting, almost sending her toppling backwards off of Skywarp's shoulder. He snarled something to Ratbat, who hissed in reply, covering her with his wing. She frowned in confusion, wishing they would stop talking in Cybertronian just so she wouldn't understand what they were saying; it was getting very annoying. At least Ratbat had an excuse; he couldn't talk to begin with.

Starscream laughed before shaking his head. "Aww, how cute, the drone is protecting his pet," he sneered.

"Do not let Soundwave catch you calling his Cassette a drone, Starscream," the other Seeker cautioned, holding his half arm delicately. "Or his human a pet; you know how touchy he is about the terms we use on her."

"I know, Thundercracker," Starscream growled. "I just like to toy with the little scrapmetal."

Ratbat hissed again before taking flight and biting Starscream's head as painfully as he could. The larger mech howled in pain, swiping at the purple flying mech with his claws. Caraden snickered as Ratbat easily evaded him, sticking his glossa out in ridicule, only for Starscream to snarl again and try to catch him.

"You vermin! I should have left you offline!"

"Aww, can't take a little fun, Starscream?" Caraden asked.

The grey Seeker glared at her before snatching her up and dangling her in front of his face. "Do not push your luck, femme!" he growled. "You might have Soundwave protecting you, but he is not here and it would be so simple to drop you off the edge of the building."

She swallowed slightly before nodding slowly. "Kay, got it; you have no sense of humor," she replied.

"Oh, I have a sense of humor, human," Starscream chuckled before placing her on the ground. "It's just not one that you will like."

She glared at him before brushing herself off, careful not to set the handgun she had off in any way. Ratbat landed beside her and sniffed at the gun, curious squeaks leaving him. She showed it to him and he grabbed it with his claws, turning it over before accidentally shooting at Starscream's leg. The Seeker snarled as the bullet bounced off harmlessly, glaring down at them as Ratbat quickly handed the gun back. She shook her head as she slipped it into her belt loop after making sure the safety was on, glancing around before she headed over to Thundercracker.

"You ok?" she asked, touching his leg.

"I'll live," he replied before looking down at her. "A better question might be why are you here? Shouldn't you have left with the rest of your kind?"

Caraden kicked at the roof, her eyes downcast. "I wanted to know if Soundwave was alright," she replied.

"Soundwave is more than capable of looking after himself," Thundercracker pointed out.

"He…didn't say good-bye," she mumbled, turning away and hugging her arms to herself.

Thundercracker chuckled softly behind her before she felt a finger run along her back. "He wouldn't say good-bye because he would come back," he stated gently.

"Still left without any form of explanation," she grumbled. "And I didn't want to leave with the Autobots; they wouldn't let me come back and I'd have to get a new guardian."

"Selfish, aren't you?" Starscream teased as he scratched her under the chin.

"Shut up," she grumbled as she pulled her head back, glaring up at him.

He laughed before looking up, narrowing his optics before growling. The other Seekers looked up as well, following their wingleader's gaze, similar noises leaving them before Skywarp picked her up again. Thundercracker transformed, his arm squealing in protest, and she was dropped into his open cockpit as the other two took off, guns out and firing. She had enough time to buckle herself in as Ratbat landed on her lap, clinging to her, before Thundercracker blasted clean off of the roof, barrel-rolling through the air. She gripped Ratbat tightly as she bit down the desire to scream, her stomach up in her throat as the need to vomit rose.

He blasted over the city, his engines roaring in her ears before he headed for the ground. "Get ready to roll!" he shouted before he flipped over, the belt buckle coming off.

She didn't have time to ask what he was talking about before the canopy opened and she hit the ground, rolling along, happy that she had decided to wear a long-sleeved sweater today, before he transformed and skidded behind her. She bumped into his leg, her body aching in pain as she weakly tried to stand up. Ratbat screeched as he flew over to her, circling a few times before flying up to Thundercracker and berating him. The blue Seeker waved the smaller mech off before standing up, scanning the surrounding buildings for any signs of movement.

"There isn't much time," he stated evenly before he leant his foot against her to help her stand up. "Head straight up this street and stay with the other Cassettes; the human military has arrived."

"But, won't they attack the Cassettes?" she asked.

"Not if you're with them," he replied. "It's for all of your safety, but if you see the men heading for you, run and don't stop."

She nodded before she forced herself to run down the street, her legs telling her that they were not up to this kind of abuse. Ratbat flew beside her, screeching softly before he turned into an alley, flying around in a circle over a dumpster. She groaned before trotting over, leaning against it to let her legs stop shaking; all her jogging didn't seem to mean anything right now that her legs were beaten and bruised. There was a clicking noise before Frenzy's head appeared around the corner of the dumpster, glaring at her for a moment before leaping over and hugging her waist tightly.

"Frenzy thought Caraden was s-s-stupid military insect!" he squeaked.

"At least you didn't shoot me," she replied as she patted his head. "Where are the others?" she asked.

"Back here!" Rumble replied before he popped up from behind another dumpster. "Mech, those Autobots are after our afts for no reason!"

"Maybe it's for destroying a whole city in the span of ten minutes," Caraden mused out loud, smirking at Rumble as he hit his head against the dumpster.

Lazerbeak leapt up onto the lid of the dumpster, fluffing his wings out slightly before tilting his head towards her. He squawked softly before waddling over to run his beak through her hair to get rid of the tangles. She smirked to herself as she stroked his wings in return, musing over the fact that these killing machines actually considered her part of their family unit. It still surprised her how willing they were to accept her, even though Frenzy found it hilarious to drive her crazy by stealing her stuff, but aside from that one little hiccup in the routine she was one of them. She was weak, organic, and couldn't transform at all, but the powerful Decepticon Cassetteicons accepted her without an outward complaint, even going as far as to welcome her into any of their games. Although, one too many bruises told her that she wasn't going to be able to play them very well; even for their miniature sizes, they packed a lot of power behind any attack, play fights or not.

An explosion brought her back to reality with a reflexive jerk, almost sending Lazerbeak sprawling on his back. They all looked out into the street in time to see Sunstreaker and Barricade go rolling past, slamming fists into each other and snarling insults in every language they knew. Buzzsaw and Lazerbeak squawked softly before everyone turned and vanished deeper into the alleyway, hoping to get away from the fighting. They reached a brick wall and Frenzy ran into it repeatedly, thinking that he could break through it.

"Frenzy, it's a brick wall; we aren't getting through," Caraden sighed before walking forward to peel the dazed mech away.

"W-w-we must!" the silver mech shouted, his head rolling around.

"Look, we can climb up onto the roof of that building and take off over the rooftops," she suggested.

Frenzy shivered for a moment, looking over at the fire-escape on the side of the apartment building and nodded. He scuttled over and started climbing up, calling to his brothers in Cybertronian to follow, she guessed. Rumble gave her a lift up to grab the base of the ladder before climbing up her back and over her, causing her to wince as she pulled herself onto the stairway. She watched as the two ground-bound brothers raced up the fire-escape like it was nothing, leaving her behind to scramble desperately after them. When she finally managed to drag herself up to the roof, she was almost flattened as Frenzy went screaming back down the ladder.

"GO BACK!"

"Wha?" she demanded before she peeked over the top of the roof and screamed as a giant foot almost slammed down on top of her.

She didn't bother sticking around to figure out whose foot almost turned her into a human pancake before scrambling back over the edge and down the fire-escape as fast as she possibly could. Rumble was behind her in an instant, both of them jumping off as the metal gave way and the two sparring robots on the roof came tumbling down on top of them. They both shouted in shock before scrambling away, just missing being crushed under the two mechs, and took off running.

"Roof bad idea!" Rumble shouted as they all high-tailed it away from the alley.

"Thanks Captain Obvious!" Caraden snapped as her legs began to burn again.

Rumble stuck his glossa out at her before they took off down the street, avoiding the suddenly bombardment from above as the Seekers went roaring by. Frenzy started shouting at the sky, to which Lazerbeak responded by pecking his head several times, squawking very loudly, probably telling him to pay attention to what was in front of him. She couldn't help but laugh at him, earning a glare, but she ignored him in favor of dodging around the numerous feet that were stamping the ground as they ran past.

"Where's Soundwave?!" she demanded.

"No clue!" Rumble replied. "We got separated shortly after Ratbat flew off to find you!"

She groaned. "Great, just effing great," she grumbled. "The one time that we actually need the protection, we're lost!"

"Stop yapping and keep running!" Rumble replied. "We'll find him!"

She nodded and forced her legs to move faster, darting around robotic feet as nimbly as humanly possible. Her clothing was drenched in sweat, her heart rate was going through the roof, and her body screamed at her to stop, but she couldn't. Stopping would mean getting killed right now and she did not want to die. Call her selfish, but she wanted to live until she was old and grey and she did not feel like being squashed like a bug under a Decepticon's foot.

She heard yelling up ahead and looked up in time to see men in army uniforms charge towards them. She yelped and spun left, running towards the sidewalk to get away, forgetting that she would be counted as one of the survivors as opposed to an enemy. She heard Rumble shout behind her before she was tackled to the ground, her chest taking most of the impact and causing the air to be knocked out of her lungs. She heard a bullet whiz by her head and the building in front of her exploded, causing a huge ball of flame to leap out towards where she and Rumble were laying.

She gasped before her upper torso was yanked to the size and a wall of purple metal blocked her vision. She felt the wave of heat pass by overhead, the edges of her shirt singeing as the flames licked faintly at them. When the heat receded, she looked up at Rumble's face and saw a contorted expression of pain and she immediately leapt up and hugged the injured mech close to her.

"Are you ok?!" she demanded as she tried to get a look at his back.

"Fine," he replied weakly before he pushed on her arm. "Get going; you need to get to Soundwave."

"I'm not leaving you behind," she growled as she hooked her arms around the small mech's middle and heaved him to his feet.

"I'll be fine," he replied softly. "You won't be; the humans are coming and they saw me protect you."

"What's your point?" she demanded.

"Cara, they'll kill you," he hissed. "Get moving."

She glared at him before hoisting him up onto her back, piggyback-style, and setting off at a trot down the road. He was protesting loudly, telling her that she couldn't do this, but she ignored him. It was her fault he was hurt and she wasn't going to leave him behind to be picked off by the military. He could scream and yell at her all he wanted, she was going to bring him back to Soundwave if it was the last thing she did.

Shouts sounded behind her before more bullets peppered the asphalt beneath her sneakers, causing her to yelp in surprise. She forced herself to go faster, hearing Rumble swearing at the men behind her, using one of his four arms to return fire and keep her from getting shot in the back. She felt something grab the edges of her mind, calling her forward in earnest, and she almost cried out in delight.

"Soundwave's just up ahead!" she shouted to Rumble.

"Awesome!" he replied before he grunted in pain. "Drop me here; I gotta get there myself. Soundwave will kill me if he sees me getting carried to him by you."

She nodded before letting his legs go and letting him fall to the ground. He rolled for a moment before springing back to his feet, racing along beside her, still firing back every now and again to ward off the military. She looked up ahead and shouted as loud as she could at Soundwave's back, making him turn around slowly from where he had been tending to an injured Ratbat. He looked past them for a moment and panic ran through the mind-link that he had for her, causing her to glance behind her. Her eyes widened as she watched one man aim his gun directly at her, then fire erupted out the muzzle seconds before she felt her body get hit by a full clip of bullets.

She was knocked forward onto the pavement, blood pooling around her in moments, running out of her mouth as she stared on in surprise. Soundwave was over her in an instant, shouting something to her, but sounds were slowly fading away. She tried to say that she was sorry, but only a bloody bubble left her lips before her head refused to leave the pavement, her vision slowly fading away. Soundwave gently caressed her mind as a final farewell before darkness overtook her, taking away the last tendrils of pain that had blossomed all over her body.

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Her body felt numb, that tingling, painful kind where you realize that your foot fell asleep while you had your legs crossed during class. Or when your leg fell asleep while you were sitting around all day and when you started to get the circulation back it hurt like a knife was cutting through you. Her eyelids were closed, keeping the reality away from her for a little while longer; she was asleep and this was a nightmare, or at least, she tried to convince herself of that.

"I'm dead," she whispered before she opened her eyes to the darkness around her. "And I'm in Hell."

There was a metallic chuckle behind her, causing her to jump to her feet and spin around. "Not quite, young Caraden, but I suppose it must seem like that to a human caught between life and death."

She gawked at the huge metal cat that was lying in front of her, its head resting lazily on its paws. It gave her a fanged grin, the single optic that sat on its face flashing softly. A large rapier-like tail waved behind it while two guns sat silently on its hips, pointed away from her luckily. It chuckled again before rising to its paws and slowly padding over, its head now level with her face. She swallowed as she took a step back, her body trembling in terror as she stared into the cat's blood red optic.

"Scared, Caraden?" it asked, its voice caught between a hiss and a low rumbling purr.

She swallowed nervously before nodding slowly, causing it to laugh. The optic flashed again before it began to rub its head into her chest, purring gently and deeply. She blinked down at it before reaching out and gently stroking its neck, unsure of how to react. It seemed friendly enough, but it could easily rip her apart without even trying, and she wouldn't be able to so much as bat an eyelash in defense. That thought alone caused her to shudder, which made the large cat step back to give her a full on glare from his single optic.

"Caraden, if I wanted to kill you, which is impossible considering you are already dead, I would have done so by now," it growled. "And I'm a 'he', in case you failed to notice."

She blinked several times before narrowing her eyes. "How do you know what I'm thinking?" she demanded.

"Because I'm a part of you, foolish child," the cat spat in reply, bringing his paw up to bat her gently over the head, which didn't hurt as much as it should have. "Honestly, did you not notice that you were becoming more cat-like for the past few months?"

"That's what was happening to me?!" she demanded. "You were changing me into some twisted cat-human-thing?!"

"I was making your fragile little body a little homier for myself," the cat replied, swishing his tail behind him in amusement. "Caraden, it was also to help you…aside from the adoration from fish…that was a side-affect that I did not anticipate."

"Great, so you just started screwing around with my genetic make-up to make yourself more comfortable?" she demanded.

"Personally, I would have changed you into a robot long ago when I first embedded myself into your life-force, but since that was impossible without causing you more pain than what either of us would have been able to handle, I refrained from it," he replied as he cleaned his paw.

"Change me into a robot?" she yelped.

"Soundwave was brought into your house, I embedded myself into you once I realized that he was becoming attached to you, and I have been waiting patiently for a chance to bring back something that he lost when he landed on this dirtball planet," he explained evenly, smirking slightly at her stunned expression.

"What did he loose?" she asked.

"Me," the cat replied before laughing. "I am Ravage, sweet little Caraden; perhaps you have heard of me?"

Caraden gawked at the metallic cat before her knees felt weak underneath her. "You're…going to dispose of me so that you can return to Soundwave," she whispered.

"No," Ravage grumbled before leaping forward to press his face close to hers, "we are going to finally combine fully, not just some pathetic little human with an unnatural body form."

"And why do you think I would agree with this?" she demanded.

"Do you want to live?" Ravage asked, flicking his tail back and forth. "Do you want to see Soundwave, Rumble, Frenzy, Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, and Ratbat again?"

"Yes," she replied, looking at her feet. "But…I'm…I'm human…," she mumbled.

"And that is the problem, isn't it?" he asked before he nuzzled her. "It's being _human_ that's holding you back."

She looked at the cat for a long moment, trying to wrap her mind around everything that he was offering. She would live, albeit not as her normal self, and she would see Soundwave again, and her adopted brothers, she would see everything again, and she would be alive. But, she thought sadly, she'd never get to see her uncle Camren again. Ravage nodded at the thought, his optic telling her that he understood that pain but it was unavoidable. She thought about what she was offered and nodded.

"Alright," she whispered, "I'll…join with you."

Ravage smirked before he backed up a step. "This will hurt, I'm sorry to say," he stated before he lunged at her.

She barely had time to register that he was in the air before his body collided with hers, knocking her onto her back. She watched as his armor melted into her body, his tail the last thing to vanish into her abdomen before she was racked with pain. She screamed as her blood seemed to boil in her veins, her heart beating to a point where she was sure that it was going to burst, before she felt her bones harden beneath her skin. She looked down in time to see her arms trembling before metal burst through the skin, covering her arms with grey armor before it raced down to her hand. The armor raced around her hand, fitting tightly as her nails lengthened themselves and became harder than any alloy known to Earth.

'_Cybertronian alloy,'_ Ravage's voice stated gently. _'Nothing of human origin could ever compare to it.'_

She swallowed before screaming again, feeling her eyes roll into her head and pop, sinking into her skull and sizzling away as optic and optic shutters formed in their place. She gasped in shock as the darkness seemed to recede slightly as her optics focused more and allowed a higher degree of light to entire her still forming CPU. Ravage quickly processed everything for her, letting her see the finished product, which wasn't much, all things considered. The metal armor continued to burst out of her skin, closing around her in a protective cocoon while her insides were dissolved and replaced with circuitry, wiring, and tubing. When she thought it was over, the base of her spine began to throb, causing her to shift around uncomfortably. She rolled over slightly and looked down in annoyance, only for her jaw to drop in shock. The armor around her backside split slightly before a long tail grew out, ending in a large stinger-shaped blade.

"A tail?" she whispered.

'_Great for balance,'_ Ravage replied happily. _'And the blade doubles as a melee weapon. I anticipated you to inherit my tail, but it would appear that our combination has altered the design. Fascinating.'_

"Is it done?" Caraden asked as she slowly stood up, the tail swinging back and forth behind her.

'_This transformation is complete,'_ Ravage replied with a rumble. _'The real one has yet to occur. It is time to wake up.'_

She nodded before the darkness exploded around her, causing her to throw her arms up to shield her face. She felt a soft tug in her chest and she allowed herself to be pulled wherever it wanted; she was going home.

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She could hear a soft moaning noise above her, to which she could understand was a mourning song. She listened to it for a moment before she sensed others nearby, and immediately she wanted to know who they were. She cracked an eyelid, glancing to the left to see the human military men standing there, their guns pointed at her again. Rage flew through her at the sight of them before a feral snarl rushed past her lips. She heard a yelp from above her before she somehow managed to roll over and leap off of whatever she had been lying on, landing on all fours on the ground to face the men.

They shouted to one another before she charged, moving faster than she ever remembered going, leaping over one and driving her foot into the one behind him. She blinked in shock as the thought of "how did I do that?" flew through her mind.

'_Basic fighting techniques,'_ Ravage's voice echoed in her mind. _'This is nothing at all.'_

She nodded slightly before darting to the side as one of the men swung their gun at her. She smirked back at him as she cracked her knuckles, her nails longer than before and harder than any human around her. She snarled at them before lunging, hands outstretched, and landed on one, digging her nails into his chest and tearing them back out. The man went down with a bloody scream, and she turned on the next one, tearing into him far too easily to be real.

'_Your nails have already underwent the transformation; they are metal now, Caraden. Human clothing is unable to withstand it, same with flesh,'_ Ravage informed her.

"Thanks for the insight," she grumbled as she looked at the blood covering her hands in morbid fascination.

She heard a shout before the back end of a gun was stabbed into her back, causing her to gasp in pain and stumble forward. She turned on the man that had struck her, a heavy snarl ripping from her before she darted aside as a round of bullets started flying at her. She darted around for a moment until she remembered that there was a loaded gun on her belt loop, to which Ravage snared in excitement. She pulled it out quickly, letting Ravage's instincts snap everything in the right place before she leveled it and fired. The recoil on the tiny gun surprised her, almost knocking her flat on her rear because she hadn't been expecting it. Even Ravage seemed surprised by the recoil, but he managed to stabilize them before they fell over, laughing hauntingly when the man who had been shooting at them fell over gushing blood out of his chest and back.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust before turning back to the five remaining men. They were aiming their guns at her now, shouting at her to stand down or they would use deadly force. She rolled her eyes as she scratched at her arm, her nails tearing up chunks of flesh and letting them fall to the ground, revealing the silver protoform underneath. They stared at it for a moment before she rested a fist on her hip, glaring at them.

"I'm sorry, but isn't that a little late?" she asked before she shrugged her sweater off, tossing it aside to give her more moving room. "Your buddy already shot at me."

"We're under strict orders to get any civilian away from here, no matter the resistance," one of the soldiers replied.

"Yes, and unloading a clip of ammunition into me earlier was totally justified," she growled.

"You obviously aren't dead," the soldier replied. "And you were travelling with Decepticons; we assumed you were a hologram."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she replied before she lifted her gun onto her shoulder. "Now here's my reply," she added as she set herself enough to absorb the gun's recoil.

She fired off the last four bullets with only three hitting their marks, killing two men on impact and leaving one to bleed out on the ground. The remaining men started firing at her, catching her several times, but the bullets hit her skin, struck the protoform metal underneath, and bounced harmlessly off. They weren't using sabot rounds like the other military men did who were use to fighting the Decepticons, or at least experienced it. She smirked before Soundwave's gun echoed around them, the ground exploding under the soldiers' feet, and sending them flying in every direction. They were dead long before they hit the ground, suiting punishment for what they did in her opinion.

She smirked before looking up at Soundwave, who was staring down at her in shock. "Hey, thanks," she greeted as she walked over to him.

"Caraden," he murmured before he knelt down, his hand lying flat on the ground, "you're…how?"

She smirked before bounding up his arm, sitting on his shoulder, and smirking at him as he gawked at her in shock. "Well, I had a little help from a guardian angel," she replied.

'_I'm not an angel,'_ Ravage commented.

Soundwave stared at her for a long moment before he stroked her head gently. "Ravage," he murmured. "So you did not die entirely."

She smiled slightly before shaking her head. "He said something about settling in my lifeforce soon after he realized that you had become attached to me," she explained.

Soundwave chuckled before stroking her head again, earning a purr that grated along her throat at the unfamiliar sound. He ran a finger down her back, making her act like a cat and arch into the touch, purring more until she gasped in pain. Soundwave's hand hovered over her as she hissed in pain, the flesh on her body suddenly tightening around her. There was a tearing noise before her new metal body exploded out of her flesh and clothing, sending it flying in every direction, to which Soundwave flinched in response. She blinked before straightening up, staring down at her hands before rubbing her head in embarrassment.

"Opps, sorry big guy," she commented. "Um…this is surprising…I thought it would hurt more."

'_The transformation was already complete,'_ Ravage stated. _'It just needed a moment to fully change you. Did you notice that you are several feet taller than before?'_

"I'm taller?" she asked, glancing down at herself in surprise.

"You appear to be around eight feet in height," Soundwave replied, unfazed by the mental talk that Ravage was only able to give. He seemed about to say something else when he hissed and pressed the button on his shoulder. "Frenzy, eject!"

Frenzy came flying out of his chest compartment and tackled her around the waist, a loud squeal leaving him as they both went tumbling towards the ground. They landed with a thud, leaving a nice crater from where her back had struck the pavement, and Caraden hissed with pain. Frenzy started bouncing up and down on her stomach, squealing at the top of his air intakes.

"RAVAGE!" he shouted before hugging her tightly. "B-b-brother lives!"

"What?!" she shrieked before kicking at him. "Get off, get off, get off!"

He chirped excitedly as he scrambled off, his four optics staring up at her happily. "Ravage!" he cried again.

She felt a snarl catch in her throat before she whipped her tail, which had just finished growing out of the base of her spine again, around, catching him in the face and sending him flying. She stopped, glaring at him as he crashed into the ground some distance away, before Soundwave grabbed her by the scruff and gave her a good shake.

"Caraden, cease actions immediately," he ordered.

"He started it!" she shouted angrily, optical fluid blurring her vision. "Did you hear what he called me?!"

"He believes you are Ravage, which is accurate considering that your spark has reestablished Ravage's bond with his brothers," Soundwave stated gently.

"I'm not Ravage," she snarled as she dangled from his fist.

"I am aware of that," he replied before setting her down.

She grumbled before he picked up the dazed Frenzy and placed him back in his chest compartment, mild annoyance set in his shoulders. She grumbled slightly before glancing around; she didn't want to have to ride in Soundwave at the moment considering the others that could insult her even more. She spotted a motorbike lying in a side alley, the owner having long abandoned it, and felt her interest spike. Trotting over to it, she examined it closely, earning a purr of contentment from Ravage before he told her to scan it. Confused, he grumbled before activating something behind her optics and a narrow beam erupted out of them, scanning over the frame of the bike and downloading statistics into her CPU. The delicate metal of her protoform body was covered by armored plating, dark black just like the motorbike that she had scanned, and she couldn't help but admire herself in the reflective surface of her armor.

"Nice," she commented, her tail swishing behind her in delight. "Do I have taste or what?"

Soundwave chuckled behind her before the sound of a transformation sequence echoed around them. She turned to see him in his Hummer alt. mode, blue paintjob glinting in the dusty air around them. She tilted her head before initiating her own transformation, trusting Ravage to get everything right for her so she didn't make a huge fool of herself. When she was done, she revved her engine and took off, circling around Soundwave a few times before pulling up beside him.

"This is so cool!" she laughed as she went up on her back tire.

"Activate your hologram," Soundwave ordered. "A driverless motorbike stands out too much."

"Uh," she gulped before Ravage sighed and activated the hologram. "Well that works."

The hologram was a simple female body with a helmet on, nothing fancy. Soundwave let out a low hum of approval before he started his engine up and drive away, heading for the outskirts of the city. She drove after him, getting a feel for her new form, showing off every now and again by taking downed billboards as jumps, just to land on Soundwave's other side. Rumble and Frenzy had their faces pressed to the windows most of the time, trying to get her attention, but she ignored them out of spite.

'_You should be nice to them,'_ Ravage taunted. _'They are your brothers.'_

'_Shut up, Ravage, no one asked for your opinion,'_ she snapped in return.

'_Ouch, now my feelings are hurt,'_ he sneered.

'_Shut up, pussycat,' _she spat before following after Soundwave, passing out of the city and down the highway.

"Caraden," Soundwave murmured, "perhaps…we should stop at your uncle's and let him know the…situation."

"Shit!" she hissed as she almost fell over. "Camren! I forgot all about him! He's going to be so worried!"

She revved her engine before taking off down the road, zooming around a huge military vehicle that she vaguely recognized as a minesweeper-type or something similar. She heard a shout behind her, but ignored it, focusing instead on getting to her uncle's and letting him know that she wasn't going to be staying with him. She completely forgot about the fact that she wasn't human anymore, but she didn't feel like explaining everything to him to begin with. Soundwave caught up with her after a time, grumbling under his breath as he pulled up beside her.

"Caraden, what are you planning?" he demanded.

"Go in, tell him I'm not staying with him, and leave," she replied.

"Do you understand what will happen to him?" he asked. "The military is going to turn up and inform him that you were killed in Mission city; your flesh and clothing are scattered all around where we were."

She almost fell over again, weaving around on the road as the shock hit her. She hadn't even stopped to think about what he would be told. The very notion that he would be told she was dead made her sick to her stomach, considering he had just finished burying his sister. He wouldn't even have a body to see, just a few scraps of clothing that had traces of her DNA on it; God, she was so stupid to have missed all this!

'_Stop beating yourself up over this,'_ Ravage yawned. _'You just came back to life and you have a new body to get use to; remembering things will come later.'_

She growled to herself before gunning her engine and zooming away down the highway, determined to get to her uncle's house now before the military did. She had to explain everything to him, from Soundwave, to the Decepticon and Autobot war, to her becoming a Transformer; he had to know so he wouldn't believe the military when they informed him of her "death". She turned off the highway without signaling to Soundwave which way to go, just wanting to get to her uncle's house. Soundwave called down Ravage's bond to her to slow down and wait for him, but she ignored him completely. Ravage cautioned her that if she went to fast, there was a chance that they would hit something and seriously injure themselves. That was the only reason she slowed down since she vaguely remembered there being a lot of dogs that chased vehicles in the suburbs that Camren lived in.

She spotted his old pick-up in a driveway and pulled up, parking herself up beside the pick-up as Ravage fiddled around with the hologram to make it look exactly like her. When he had managed to accomplish that, Soundwave had pulled up into the driveway behind her, gently pushing against her rear tire. She "pulled" the helmet off of her head as she "got off" her alt. mode. She inhaled deeply before moving towards her uncle's front door, feeling slight nostalgia of doing this so many times before with her mother, before she knocked several times.

"Caraden," Camren chimed as he opened the door with a smile, "I was wondering when you'd get here. There was another attack on Mission City and I was worried that you might have gotten caught in the middle of it."

She smiled weakly before sighing heavily. "Um, Uncle?" she murmured before staring up at him sadly. "We need to talk."

**Author's note:** Duh duh duh! Cliffy! Ok, maybe not so much, but yeah. So, as you can see, the full Cybertronian option in the poll won out. And I made Ravage come back, yeah! Yeah, call her a Mary-sue now, but trust me, I have many embarrassments in store for her, mostly involving her tail. People are going to be calling her Ravage for a while until she spazzes out and tries to kill someone; I vote on that doctor from the new movie.


	9. Explanations

Chapter 9 Explanations

"Caraden, what's wrong?" Camren asked as his smile faded. "You look like you're choking back tears."

She inhaled slightly before she motioned towards Soundwave. "We have to talk," she repeated as evenly as she could.

He lifted an eyebrow before he walked out of his front door, reaching forward to feel her forehead. She rolled her eyes before she turned to go get her shell into Soundwave's trunk, missing her uncle's incredulous look as Soundwave got out to help her; he mustn't have been expecting him to drive her or for her to have a motorbike. They hoisted her shell onto Soundwave's bumper, unwrapped some cables, and tied the motorbike tightly to his backside. She smiled at her uncle as he leant on Soundwave's hood, staring at them as if they were the most complex pair in the Universe.

"What possessed you to buy her that little bike?" Camren asked with a nod towards her frame.

Soundwave's hologram shrugged his shoulders slightly. "She thought that she could handle it," he replied.

"It took three years to teach her to ride a bicycle," Camren snorted with a smirk towards her. "How could she figure out how to ride a motorbike in less than three hours?"

Caraden glared at him with a mixed expression of annoyance and outrage before sticking her nose in the air. "I did NOT take three years to ride a bike! I learnt within an hour...I just refused to ride it because I wiped out."

"Sure darling, whatever you say," Camren replied with a grin.

She stuck her tongue out at him before she walked over to the passenger side door and sung herself up into the passenger seat. Frenzy grinned at her but remained in his seat in the backseat, bouncing up and down in his semi-habitual way, and sending Camren a nervous glance as he climbed in. Rumble waved to the man with a friendly smile while he leant against the back of the seat. Camren returned the wave with a rather uncharacteristic nod of his head, and buckled himself in. She buckled herself in, glancing at Soundwave nervously as he slid in behind the wheel of his alt mode.

'_Do not worry, little one,'_ Soundwave stated gently as he backed out of the driveway and started driving towards the highway again. _'He is merely worried about what you want to tell him.'_

'_What do you think he'll say?'_ she asked as she felt Ravage's presence filter down into her hands and force them to fold neatly in her lap, stopping them from fidgeting.

'_Only time will tell; I am telepathic not clairvoyant,' _he replied gently.

She sighed softly before forcing herself to relax into the seat, wanting to appear as normal as possible to her clueless uncle. He had to know about what happened to her, what she had been hiding and protecting long before her parents died. It wasn't fair that they died oblivious to the fact that a giant alien robot also called their property home and protected her with its life. Camren should have at least known where she was going now and that she was going to be protected, especially when he received word that she was dead from the military. It wouldn't be fair to at least say good-bye before she left with Soundwave to start living life as a Cybertronian, more specifically, as a Decepticon.

She tried not to wince at the thought as it formed. The Decepticons wanted the human race annihilated, something she would never be able to stomach, and would probably treat her as a pariah because of her origins. She would have to stick very close to Soundwave for the rest of her life just to make sure that none of the other Decepticons would try to harm her. Thinking back, her stomach clenching in pain, it seemed like her choice had been a bad idea. She would never get to see anyone she loved again and she wouldn't die like a human either. There would be no heaven for her, not like there use to be; she would never see her father or mother waiting for her in whatever afterlife existed.

'_Why do you bother with regretting?'_ Ravage demanded angrily as he bared his fangs at her. _'You are alive, you ungrateful wench! Does that not make you happy?'_

'_What's the point of being alive,'_ she whispered desperately, _'if I'll never get to live?'_

His snarl of rage ripped through her head and she winced slightly, trying to make it look like she was just staring out the window. _'How can you say that?!'_ he demanded. _'Soundwave and the other Cassetteicons are eternally grateful to have you alive!'_

'_You mean to have you alive,'_ she snapped back, fighting to keep her face relaxed and serene while she was arguing with herself. _'They could have cared less if I actually came back; all they see is you, Ravage.'_

Ravage fell silent, the slightest feelings of remorse and hostility clenching at her spark. She felt the seatbelt tighten around her and smiled weakly over at Soundwave's hologram, whose face was fixed in a blank stare as his eyes followed the road. She wondered if Soundwave had heard the fight she had with Ravage, guilt seeping into her before the seatbelt tightened more, engulfing her like a comforting hug. She slipped her hand around the seatbelt and clenched it tightly in her hand, staring out the windshield while trying to copy Soundwave's blank look. Out of all of them, Soundwave was probably the only one that was happy that she survived as well as Ravage.

Ravage muttered something about her worrying too much, but she quickly tuned him out as Soundwave pulled into what looked to be a campsite. She got out immediately and headed for her frame, gently beginning to untie the ropes. They quivered for a moment before they retracted into Soundwave's frame with a faint slurping noise, leaving her to lift her heavy frame to the ground with a surprised squeak. Camren lifted an eyebrow at her when she wheeled it out from behind Soundwave's frame, most likely wondering why she was bringing the bike out when she obviously wasn't going to use it. She smiled weakly before Frenzy and Rumble tumbled out behind him, making her roll her eyes when they grinned like idiots.

Soundwave's calm presence reassured her as he led the way to a clear spot a short distance away from his alt mode. He nodded solemnly to her before standing as still as a statue, refusing to do the talking for her. Camren looked from her to Soundwave several times before he crossed his arms and glared darkly at her.

"Alright, spill," he demanded. "What have you got to talk to me about?"

"I...I won't be staying with you, Uncle," she stated calmly as her voice quivered slightly.

"Why not?" he asked, voice bitter to cover the hurt his eyes showed. "I thought you wanted to?"

"I did...but the circumstances changed; I can't stay with you anymore," she replied before shifting around to grip her handlebars tightly.

"Explain," he almost growled.

"It's...hard to explain," she replied before taking a deep breath and staring him in the eyes. "The Hummer behind you is not a car, but rather an alien robot from outer space. His name is Soundwave and he has taken me as his charge."

Camren was silent for a moment before he snorted. "An alien? Caraden, how old are you? If you didn't want to stay with me, you don't have to come up with some cock-n-bull story to try to save me the heartbreak," he replied coldly. "I want the truth, now."

Caraden growled before she threw her arm out beside her. "This is the truth!" she snapped before pointing at Soundwave. "That's a hologram! It's fake! It's made of light beams that happen to be able to condense into a solid form!"

"Then it isn't a hologram," Camren replied coldly.

"Holomatter, to be precise," Soundwave interrupted, nodding his head slowly.

Camren glared from one to the other before he stormed over to Soundwave and shoved his face in his. "Listen here you, I will not be lied to!" he snarled venomously. "Considering how much you are supporting this story, I can only assume the worst about you."

"Your concern is understandable, but there is no need for hostility," Soundwave replied evenly. "Caraden is in no danger as long as she is within my range of vision."

"Bullshit!" Camren snarled before he spat on the ground. "You raped her, didn't you?! You defiled her and now you're coming up with some bullshit story to try to make you look innocent and her insane! Well it isn't going to work, do you hear me?!"

"Camren!" Caraden yelped in surprise, staring at her uncle in horror. "Soundwave never hurt me! Ever! How can you say something like that?"

"Because I can," Camren replied before he rounded on her, eyes alive with fury. "You're lying to cover his useless ass because you developed Stockholm syndrome or something!"

"That's not it at all!" Caraden shouted before she looked desperately at Soundwave. "Show him! Please!"

Soundwave gazed at her evenly before he shook his head and sighed. Camren turned to snarl something at him, only to leap back with a howl of shock when the solid man he had been threatening a moment before vanished. Frenzy and Rumble nodded to each other before they vanished as well, earning another shout of shock from the incensed man. A loud series of sounds echoed around, to which she identified as the transformation sequence, before Soundwave's frame started to unfold itself. Camren's hand wrapped around her arm as he pushed her backwards away from Soundwave's growing body, his eyes betraying his fear as they widened to the size of saucers.

Soundwave's visor snapped down over his optics before he turned his gaze to them, his chest rising as he inhaled deeply, face mask snapping up to cover his mouth and nose. Camren's grip on her holomatter's arm increased as he took a step backwards, every muscle in his body coiling as he prepared to flee, planning to drag her along if he had to. Soundwave bent down so that his face was level with her uncle's and almost recoiled away as Camren aimed a kick for his visor, earning a squawk of protest from her.

"Camren, calm down!" Caraden shouted as she tried to pry his hand off of her arm. "He's not going to hurt you!"

"What IS he?!" Camren demanded as he rounded on her, pointing an accusing finger at Soundwave.

"He's a giant alien robot from the planet Cybertron," she replied matter-of-factly. "His name is Soundwave and he's the Communications Officer of the Decepticon army, as well as my guardian."

Camren glared at Soundwave darkly, his eyes roaming the other's face for any traces of deception, not that his face mask and visor let any emotion past. An amused chuckle echoed out of Soundwave's chest before he pulled back, reaching out a hand to stroke her cheek. Camren let out a shout of protest, but she ignored him as she leant happily into his finger, purring faintly in her throat while she tilted her head. Ravage purred happily from within her, ignoring Camren's stunned face as he gawked at her, and pushed the urge to transform into every inch of her.

'_We can't do that,'_ she argued.

'_Why not?'_ Ravage snorted in disgust.

'_Because Camren will have a heart attack if we suddenly just stand up,'_ she replied logically. _'We have to get through our story before we let him know that we, I, am one of your kind now.'_

'_Hmm, I can see your point,'_ he purred with a chuckle. _'However, they are not only my kind; you are one of us now and it is YOUR kind too.'_

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes before she looked at her uncle. She smiled at him as Soundwave rested his hand on the ground beside her, amusement filtering down their bond. She wondered for a moment how the bond could exist so strongly in her body when his bond to her existed solely within her mind. Camren broke her train of thought by coughing loudly and pointing at Soundwave.

"Ok, I get that he's an alien, but why do you have him?" he demanded.

"Well, mom's boyfriend bought it for me," she replied while rubbing her head nervously. "I think it was a way to appease me."

"He bought him knowingly?" Camren demanded in outrage.

"No, he didn't have a clue," Caraden laughed before reaching out to touch Soundwave's arm. "You think my mom would have let this anywhere near the house if she knew what he was?"

Camren chuckled as he pictured the image of her mother freaking out over the fact that the driveway was home to a giant killing machine. He asked how she had managed to find out about him being a robot and she went into the slightly edited version of the disastrous date with Trent up to Enzis Hill. His eyes narrowed in anger as she tried to skip over the part where Trent had every intention to rape her but his quick mind caught on instantly. She explained how Soundwave chased Trent off and explained to her how he was going to protect her without a second thought, just as he would protect his own creations.

"His creations?" Camren asked. "What are they?"

"Kind of like his kids," she replied before looking up at Soundwave. "You can let them out only if they promise not to try to kill him or tackle me."

Soundwave nodded his head before pushing the button on his shoulder to deploy his creations. "Deploy Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, Frenzy, Rumble, and Ratbat. Operation; provide proof of existence," he droned out.

All of his creations leapt out of the opened chest compartment, the three flight capable ones flying around Camren's head as he gawked at them in disbelief while Rumble and Frenzy landed on the ground and grinned as their holomatter forms walked over and leant on their shoulders. They gave Camren a toothy grin as he stared from one to the other, pointing at one then the other as he made the connection between the holomatter forms and the frame standing in front of him.

"Do...all of you have a human form?"

"Technically speaking; we can make it look like anything," Rumble stated as he made his holomatter form turn into a dog. "See? Woof!"

Camren stared at them for a moment before giving Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw nervous glances as they landed nearby, their red optics staring evenly into him. He swallowed and waved a hand at them, muttering about nice birdies while scooting farther away from them. The condors snickered to one another, shooting her amused looks while discreetly high-fiving each other. Ratbat was currently hanging upside-down from Soundwave's arm, chittering loudly as he swung back and forth.

"So...what made you want to stay with him?" Camren asked at last, giving her a long stare. "You could have easily kept him a secret from me until you moved out."

She hung her head before sighing and pushing her hair out of her face. "That's...that's the more complicated part of the problem," she sighed before wrapping her arms around herself. "You see...something...happened in Mission City today. I was...caught in the crossfire between the US military and Soundwave. They...thought I was a holomatter form because I was carrying Rumble back to Soundwave...and they shot me with a machine gun enough times to make me look and act like the sieve."

She shuddered at the memory of the bullets ripping into her body, hitting her with enough force to send her onto the ground. The terror of not being able to draw breath clawed at her memory, making her wince against her will and whimper into her shoulder. Ravage shuddered within her, raising his own wail of agony from within that she bit back as quickly as she could. She didn't want Camren to know anything that he couldn't handle spilled onto his lap and having another person basically possessing her wouldn't help.

'_I am not possessing you,'_ Ravage growled. _'We are fused; one being, not two.'_

'_Oh shut up,'_ she groaned back before meeting Camren's eyes again. "I was killed in Mission City."

He stared at her for a long while, the starting of a protest growing on his tongue before his eyes hardened. "Impossible, you're here in front of me," he replied darkly.

She smiled sadly before she sighed and looked up at Soundwave, asking silently for help. He rested a finger on her back and stroked soothingly, love and affection filling her up as he sent it down the bond for her to have. She bathed in it for a moment, hating herself for even thinking that Soundwave could have possibly only been happy because Ravage was back, before she inhaled deeply. She looked directly into her uncle's eyes before she deactivated her hologram.

"I was killed uncle...but...Ravage brought me back to life," she replied before she transformed.

Camren's mouth fell open as his eyes bugged out of his face, staring at her as she stood in front of him. Her tail flicked back and forth behind her as she smiled sadly and hugged her arms around her chest, knowing that he was going to demand what happened to her. She expected screaming and raving, of angry curses to be thrown, and to be called many rude names as he tried to deny everything that he saw before him. However, a warm hand rested on her arm and she looked down into her uncle's calm, sad eyes.

"Tell me...what happened," he choked out, fighting back the urge to cry.

She sighed before explaining how Ravage had somehow fused with her soul when Soundwave became her guardian and had started to subtly change her DNA to make her body more comfortable for him. She told him of the scares that he had caused her while the changes had happened, how she thought she had some kind of cancer that the doctors couldn't identify, and how she had for a while thought she was going to waste away to nothing. She told of the darkness that had surrounded her shortly after she died, of how Ravage had been waiting there to meet her, and how he explained it all to her. She told him how he had leapt at her after she agreed to fuse with him, just so she could see Soundwave again and the sunshine and everything else she loved, of the terror that gripped her throughout the whole transformation process. She kept the details of the pain minimal, but all the same his face twisted into a sickened grimace.

She told him how she had woken up to Soundwave mourning her in Cybertronian and how she had been able to sense the humans that had shot her still standing nearby. She went into details of how she had preformed movements she didn't think her body possible of doing and how she had torn through the men that had dared to shoot at her and her "brothers". She spoke of the power she had and the freedom that she never knew existed, how Ravage's senses were already fined tuned to her new body to interpret everything that was happening around her, even though she didn't have a clue what it all meant. She told him how she had bound up Soundwave's arm with more grace than any human alive and perched on his shoulder proudly, still in her human form until her body exploded to reveal the growing protoform underneath.

She told him how Frenzy had tackled her thinking she was Ravage and how she had almost decapitated him for it. She explained the almost natural, if not grotesque, sensation of transforming, of her body moving around on its own pretence and becoming another object. She tried to explain how she had naturally known how to drive herself already and the feeling of wind against her sleek form, but she knew that she could never put words to the sensation or make him understand. She flicked her tail before nodding to her uncle again.

"That's pretty much all of it," she ended before tilting her head.

Camren gave her a long look before sighing heavily and running his hand through his hair. "This sounds like a science fiction movie gone wrong," he stated calmly before shaking his head. "And to think it hit this close to home...."

She hung her head slightly before delicately hugging him, wincing internally at the feeling of his flesh bending under the amount of pressure behind her robotic limbs. He hugged her back with a soft chuckle, running his hand over her back before he tried to pull back. She let him go and watched him anxiously as he shook his head and crossed his arm.

"Caraden...I guess I can't call you that anymore...I hope you're happy in your new life," he murmured.

"Can't call me Caraden anymore?" Caraden asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Caraden...think about it," Camren chuckled weakly. "You're not yourself anymore...or at least, not entirely."

"You lost me," she replied with a frown.

"You're Caraden and Ravage, not one and not the other," Camren replied evenly. "You're a mixture of the two now."

Caraden shook her head as even Ravage let out a confused mew inside her head. Soundwave's finger ran his finger over her helm and she forgot about her confusion for the moment. She let out a soft purr as she rubbed her helm against her guardian's fingers, ignoring Rumble and Frenzy's snickers. Soundwave let out a low noise before he pulled back and transformed, opening his doors for his creations to climb into.

"It's time we were on our way," Soundwave called gently. "I will bring you back to your house, Camren."

"You won't come visit?" Camren asked.

"I...don't think we will be able to," Caraden replied as she hopped into Soundwave' backseat and watched Camren climb into the passenger seat. "I mean, it's going to be really dangerous for us to be around on Earth with the Autobots around."

Camren frowned for a moment before falling silent, staring out the windshield in thought. She curled up behind the backseat and stared out the back window. Frenzy poked his head over the backseat and smiled at her, planning on jumping down to hug her, before she shot him a withering look and bared her dental band at him. He squeaked and vanished from sight, much to her satisfaction as she curled up more and tucked her head under her arm, her tail flickering back and forth. Soundwave's engine revved in annoyance as Frenzy let out a sniffle.

'_Caraden,'_ Soundwave growled. _'Would you stop terrifying your brother?'_

'_I will when he stops calling me Ravage,'_ she snorted in reply.

She felt a wave of exasperation pass through the bond before Soundwave fell silent. She had a sudden sense of isolation before she curled up more, staring into her side as she shivered at the thought, Ravage's own fear bubbling up beside hers. Soundwave's presence was with her a moment later, encircling her with love and she purred softly at the feeling; he must have sensed her sudden spike of panic and felt guilty for leaving her. Or he was just trying to get her to feel comfortable around the others again, even though she could hear their faint thoughts screaming "Ravage is back".

Ravage went to comment on the thoughts but she ignored him as Camren let out a snort from his seat. "Hmm, looks like I have company," he commented. "Now, who owns a black Ford Mustang?"

"Valerie?!" Caraden yelped as she snapped her head up and made to scamper over the back seat. "Is it her and Prowl?"

"Yes," Soundwave replied gently. "Stay out of sight until I can determine if they are trustworthy enough to know our secret."

"But it's Val!" Caraden hissed indignantly. "She's my best friend! She should know that I'm alive."

"Regardless of Val's status with you, Prowl is an Autobot," Soundwave reminded her gently. "He is the one that will inform the others of your condition."

"Condition?" she demanded.

"That is what they will acknowledge it as," he replied with a chuckle. "The Autobots will think that I have reverted entirely to my Decepticon roots and used your lifeless body as a host for Ravage's spark."

She dipped her head in acknowledgement of his point and flattened herself to the bottom of Soundwave's interior. She slid as he turned into Camren's driveway, cutting his engine as her uncle got out. She couldn't see what was going on, but just the soft growl of Soundwave's circuits was enough to let her know that he didn't like what was going on. Just as she was starting to wonder how much trouble she'd get in for peeking, Soundwave opened his com. link to them and let all the Cassetteicons hear what was being said.

"Caraden's dead," Valerie sniffled, no doubt having just composed herself enough to actually talk to Camren. "She...she was shot by the United States military by mistake...then...well, we're guessing that the Decepticons shredded her body."

"How can you be sure of that?" Camren demanded, his voice heavy with hostility, perfect cover for the occasion. No doubt Soundwave had urged him mentally not to give away the secret just yet.

"Trust me, I saw the blood, skin, and clothing; there's no other explanation for it," Valerie replied heatedly. "I've filled you in one everything that I know and I sure as hell wouldn't make shit like this up!"

"And how do I know that?" Camren demanded. "What shred of proof do you have to give that giant alien robots from space exist?"

"I believe, Camren, that I can be of some assistance for that," Prowl's voice stated calmly. "I, for one, am an Autobot, one of the large group of robots that is protecting Earth. The Hummer behind you is a Decepticon, and the one responsible for Caraden's death."

"Incorrect," Soundwave droned out, probably making Camren flinch. "Caraden's death is not my fault, nor is it any Decepticon's fault. The blame lies solely on the heads of the humans that fired upon her."

There was a long pause before Valerie shouted accusingly at Camren. "You knew he was a Transformer!" she screamed. "You didn't even flinch when he talked!"

"Camren has been informed of Caraden's fate; on my request he remained silent of the facts," Soundwave stated gently. "Caraden is no longer suffering, Valerie."

"How do you know that?" Valerie demanded, seconds before the sound of something hitting his hood echoed through the interior, making them all flinch. "How do you know that she isn't in pain wherever it is she is?"

Soundwave gave her a gentle nudge within the bond and she inhaled shakily. "Because I'm right here," she replied softly, using Soundwave's com. link to be heard.

Silence filled the air again before Soundwave gently urged her to use her holoform generator. Ravage purred gently as he activated everything for her, leaving her confusion with a gently chuckle while teasing her about being a sparkling. She growled weakly at him before her consciousness was transferred to the holoform that had hopped out of the back seat and went to lean on Soundwave's hood, smiling at Valerie as her friend stared at her in shocked disbelief.

"Hey Val," she greeted with a nod. "Miss me?"

Valerie let out a loud scream before she launched herself onto her chest, crying out loudly as she hugged her tightly. Caraden laughed gently before she hugged her hysterical friend back, trying to calm her down enough to understand the words that were tumbling out of her mouth. She glanced over at the silent car parked beside Soundwave and smirked at the blond man standing stiffly beside it. Prowl's holoform's eyes were as big as dinner plates and his mouth was clamped tightly shut as his left eye started to twitch.

"Processor crash?" she asked before she managed to wiggle out of her friend's tight embrace. "Val, look, I can't stick around long."

"Why not?" Valerie asked with a confused frown. "You're alive! That's great news! Everyone was crying so hard...I just had to get away...I couldn't stand the thought that you were gone."

Caraden smiled sadly before hugging her friend again. "Val...I can't stay...it's hard to explain but...," she turned to look at Soundwave's windshield, silently begging for him to allow Valerie to see her. She felt a gently embrace through the bond and smiled thankfully at her guardian. "Val, come on, I got to show you something."

She hopped off of Soundwave's hood and quickly scrambled into the backseat, shoving Frenzy to the ground as he squealed at the sight of Valerie following on her heels. He cursed several times as he clambered onto the seat, glaring at the other brunette like she was an invading virus before he tried to snuggle against Caraden's side. She gave him a rough shove away, glaring at him while her frame's tail twitched from where it was crouched.

"Whoa...that one's new," Valerie commented quietly as she gazed down at the black frame in front of her. "What's its name?"

"That's what I wanted to show you," Caraden murmured before her frame sat up beside her and smiled sadly. "This is me now, Valerie."

Valerie stared from her to her frame several times, mouth open and flapping like a fish. "I...I don't understand...how?"

"I don't understand much more than you do," Caraden replied gently before filling her in with everything that she did know.

Valerie's face fell throughout the story until she was looking down into her lap. "This means that...this really is good-bye," she murmured sadly. "I'll never get to see you again because...because you're a Decepticon."

Caraden nodded sadly. "Yeah, I know...I don't like it either," she replied sadly. "I mean, it's not like I wanted it to happen this way."

Valerie's shoulders shook for a moment before she started to cry silently. Caraden's holomatter form vanished and she moved forward to gently hug her friend, fighting back the wave of tears that built up behind her optics. Ravage's curiosity peaked at this point and he asked her why she was so upset about being away from the other human. Apparently, the whole time he had shared her body prior to her transformation he had been in a state of hibernation. She explained that Valerie was her best friend and she would miss her dearly, but Ravage couldn't seem to make the connection between their loyalties.

'_The only time such loyalties exist in the Decepticon ranks is between siblings or lovers,'_ Ravage commented. _'We do not make friends with the backstabbing mechs in the army.'_

'_Humans don't work that way,'_ Caraden replied softly. _'I can see I'm going to get into big trouble after we get back to base.'_

'_You're young and naive; you will learn who you can and cannot trust,'_ Ravage purred in amusement. _'And do not forget that Soundwave is there to protect you as well. You will never be totally alone in the base, not the way you felt when Soundwave told you to be nicer to Frenzy.'_

She nodded mentally before Valerie pulled back and wiped her eyes clear of tears. She sniffled several times before shaking her head angrily, staring down into her lap while her shoulders continued to shake. Caraden rested her head on her friends and sighed sadly, knowing that this was going to wrench her heart apart asking something like what she was about to.

"You can't tell Prowl," she murmured. "I know he's your guardian and all, but I...I can't trust him. Not now."

"I know," Valerie murmured. "Prowl's an Autobot and you're afraid he'll tell Optimus without a second thought."

Caraden nodded, happy that her friend had caught onto her fear that fast. "I know you trust him without a shadow of a doubt, but he never liked Soundwave," she started to explain. "He might tell Optimus about what happened to me just so that I don't stay with him."

"I don't think Prowl's that much of an asshole," Valerie commented with a glare. "But I see where you're going with that idea."

Caraden laughed gently before Soundwave's engine started up. She glanced over at him and she felt him gently prodding the bond, telling her to say her good-byes. She winced before hugging Valerie as tightly as she dared before nodding sadly to her friend. Valerie climbed out of Soundwave's interior and she followed in her holomatter form, rubbing angrily at her eyes as tears fell against her will. The two friends hugged again, sobbing quietly before Camren came over and hugged her good-bye.

"Try to come see me when you can," he whispered quietly. "You're always welcome here, my little Caraden."

"I'll try," she murmured quietly as she hugged him tightly. "Bye, Uncle."

With that final good-bye she climbed back into Soundwave's interior and sat down on the back seat, making it look to Prowl that she was still human. She waved sadly at Valerie, who suddenly looked small and lost between Camren and Prowl, who waved back with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, her chin held up as she fought back tears. Caraden inhaled deeply as Soundwave drove away, picking up speed as he reached the highway, before she deactivated her hologram and curled up again on the floor.

"I'm gunna miss her," she murmured sadly.

"Valerie will miss you too, little one," Soundwave cooed. "You will get to see her again, rest assured."

"Let's just hope it's not in the middle of a battle," Rumble grunted.

Caraden couldn't help but agree with him as she settled herself down to rest. Soundwave's interior heated up slightly and she felt two solid bodies curl up against hers. She onlined one optic to glare at Frenzy and Rumble as they snuggled closer, resting their heads on her shoulder, but she didn't bother growling at them to get lost. She rested her head on the ground and yawned widely before falling into recharge, feeling Ravage's dreams slide into her own.  
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_She stalked quietly through the dark building, ears perked for any sign of movement. Her orders were simple enough to follow and she had done it many times before. Sneaking into the Autobot base was almost laughable, no matter how hard their security director worked to keep her out. Lazerbeak was probably sneaking around in the ventilation systems above her head, but she didn't want to be in an enclosed space should the need to fight arise._

_A door swooshed open up ahead of her and she sped up to reach it before it closed, keeping to the shadows as she caught sight of a large black mech walk down the hallway heading towards her. She narrowed her optics so that the red light that emitted from them was not seen in the darkness, watching the gigantic mech lumber past without so much as glancing at her. She smirked to herself before she darted into the open door and over to the monitors. _

_She hopped up onto the control panel and growled darkly as she prowled over to a few flashing buttons. She sniffed at them curiously before she pushed on them with a paw, watching as a few of the screens in front of her went out. She smirked again before she glanced at the vent sitting near the ceiling, swishing her tail slowly to get the attention of the black and red bird that had just hopped by. With a low croak, Lazerbeak pushed the grate open and fluttered down to her, pecking at the keys to make more of the screens go out._

'_We must move quickly, Ravage,' he cawed through the bond. 'The Autobots will figure out soon enough that we are here.'_

'_Then let's make haste, brother,' she purred back before she slipped her tail into an input slot and connected to the database._

_It didn't take long to download all the files, quickly checking to make sure she had not just uploaded a virus into her central processor. She disconnected from the mainframe and nodded to Lazerbeak as his own hacking cord retracted into his back. He cawed softly before spreading his wings out to fly back up to the grate as the door to the room burst open._

"_I thought I smelt a Con," a deep voice growled before the hulking form of the weapon's specialist was outlined in the doorway._

'_Go, Lazerbeak!' she hissed before she sprang off the control panel and rushed the door. 'I'll meet you outside!'_

'_Primus speed, brother!' Lazerbeak cawed back as he flew as fast as he could towards the grate, ducking around the blasts that Ironhide shot at him._

_She raced out between Ironhide's feet, earning a roar of anger as the large mech turned to fire at her. Other Autobots were racing down the hallway now, shooting at her in a mad attempt to stop her from escaping with the information she had downloaded. She easily navigated the halls, ignoring the flashing red sirens that brought more Autobots rushing to meet her. Her hip mounted rockets were firing rapidly, taking out the giant mechs before they could even reach her. _

_She pushed herself harder as she watched the door to the base slowly start to slide closed. She needed to get out before she was forced to go into the vents, something that she had long ago become too large to do. Her paws scraped the ground as she shoved her way through the gap that was left in the door, barely getting her tail out in time to avoid getting it crushed. She saw several plasma blasts dent the door before she took off running again, Lazerbeak's loud caw echoing around as he came flying down from one of the base's towers._

'_A little too close for comfort!' he called before he flew by overhead. 'Creator is waiting, brother.'_

'_Make haste for the extraction point,' she replied as she charged along the ground, leaping over the ruined ground of Iacon where the road had been ripped apart by bombs. 'We do not want to keep Megatron waiting!'_

_Lazerbeak let out a caw of agreement before he flew on ahead, easily outdistancing her. She raced onwards, feeling Soundwave's gentle call down the bond to guide her to where he was waiting. She let out a loud roar of triumph as she caught sight of his blue armour silhouetted between the buildings. She leap the last few gaps between them before she launched herself onto his shoulder and curled up against him._

"_Lazerbeak and Ravage have returned, Megatron," Soundwave called as he gently stroked her head. "Information gathered will be deciphered quickly."_

"_Excellent," Megatron growled as his huge form appeared next to her creator's. "Inform me when you have found the information we need to find the Allspark's whereabouts."_

"_Affirmative," Soundwave replied before his chest compartment opened._

_She purred softly before transforming and slipping in, attaching to the side of the interior as her brothers called sleepy greetings down the bond. She felt one of Soundwave's interface wires connect with the back of her neck and she allowed him access into her CPU for the data transfer. He pulled back a moment later, cooing his approval down the bond. She purred happily before she allowed his systems to run into hers and lull her into recharge, connecting her instantly to the minds of her brothers as they all recharged peacefully while Soundwave set to work deciphering the gathered information.  
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Caraden woke up slowly to the soft din of voices talking nearby. She yawned widely and stretched out slightly from within Soundwave's chest compartment, knowing where she was instantly. Ravage was conscious the next instant taking note of where his brothers were around the interior. She flicked her tail a few times before he directed her over to where a space was left.

'_That is where I use to go when I was not needed,'_ he purred before chuckling. _'Somehow, I don't think we'll fit now.'_

She nodded her agreement before Soundwave's voice echoed around her. "Rumble, Frenzy, Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, Ratbat,...Caraden; deploy. Operation; roll call," he called, seeming to pause when he called her.

'_Probably wondering whether to call Caraden or Ravage,'_ she joked to herself, earning an agreeing purr from Ravage.

She watched as the chest compartment opened and her "brothers" detached themselves from the side of Soundwave's chest compartment. They were half-way through transforming as they leapt out of compartment, following the order in which they were called. She hopped out after Ratbat, flipping over before she landed on the ground on all fours, her tail whipping around to curl around her as she straightened up. Several stunned gasps rose around her before the air was filled with a heavy buzz of murmuring.

She glanced at Rumble and lifted an optic ridge questioningly, but he shrugged and mouthed "no clue". She shifted slightly, aware of how much bigger she was than the other Cassetteicons before she heard a loud chitter. She yelped in surprise before darting aside as a large metallic scorpion leapt at her, clicking its claws. The others blinked several times before it began to chase her around, chittering angrily as it tried to keep up. She let out a yowl as a claw snapped down too close to the base of her tail blade and charged up the closest mech, hissing down angrily at the scorpion as it reared up and snapped its claws at her.

"Slag off, you giant metal bug!" she shouted as she arched her back and hissed down at it.

Several snickers rose up as the scorpion continued to squeal at her, trying to climb up the mech's leg in an attempt to get at her. She hissed at it before glancing beside her to see who she had climbed up on. Starscream was staring at her in confusion, blinking rapidly as his mouth opened in what she guessed was a beginning of a screech. She let out a weak giggle before glancing around for another escape route, knowing that Soundwave was too far away to even think about jumping too.

She spotted a ledge just behind Starscream's head and Ravage purred with laughter as she turned to face it. She wiggled herself for a moment before she flicked her tail and launched herself at the ledge. She landed with her lower half dangling off the edge, leaving her to claw her way up amidst roars of laughter from the Decepticons. She drew herself up and dragged a hand over her head, flattening the ear attachments on her helm down as a cat would.

"Are you sure that's the human that you were looking after?" a voice demanded. "It looks more like a mutated Earth pet to me."

She flashed a fang in annoyance as she sat down and crossed her legs, glaring at the mech that had spoken. She didn't recognize him, but she guessed that he was one of the ones that had died in the battle of Mission City. She rolled her optics at him before Soundwave cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention.

"My charge has been made into one of us," he stated calmly. "I am unsure of the entire process that took place, but shortly after she was killed by the human military, she awoke and became the femme you see before you."

"Above you," Rumble corrected as he pointed at her.

"That's a rather tall tale," Starscream snorted. "I saw her during the battle and nothing even gave a hint of this," he pointed at her, "occurring."

Caraden rolled her eyes slightly before Soundwave nodded. "True, but there is another factor that none of us were aware of until the transformation occurred," he stated calmly. "Ravage's spark fused itself to her lifeforce."

"What?" Starscream screeched after a moment of stunned silence. "How is that possible?!"

"How should I know?" Caraden snorted. "All I know is that he's up here," she pointed to her head, "and I'm no schizo."

"Schizo?"

"Schizophrenia; also called _dementia praecox_. A severe mental disorder characterized by some, but not necessarily all, of the following features: emotional blunting, intellectual deterioration, social isolation, disorganized speech and behaviour, delusions, and hallucinations," she replied before blinking several times. "Ok, I just scared myself."

Starscream stared at her for a long moment before snorting and shouting something in Cybertronian. Ravage told her that he was calling the Doctor, a name he spat out in disgust. She was about to ask what he was planning on doing when she spotted something small scuttling towards her. She blinked at it, raising her hand up to smack it aside like a bug, ignoring Ravage's sudden shout of "no". She wound up and smacked the metallic bug off the ledge, preparing to jump after it to squish it when Starscream's hand came down on her scruff, lifting her up into the air.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" she demanded as she flailed around for a moment.

"I could ask you the same thing," he snarled before giving her a shake. "You just attacked another Decepticon."

"That was a bug," she snapped.

"Uh, Caraden?" Rumble called. "That was Scalpel; he's our medic!"

Caraden gawked at the mech for a moment before looking down at the bug she had swatted. It was glaring at her with red optics and snipping away in Cybertronian as it collected the limbs that had fallen off during the fall and reconnecting them. She let out a weak giggle before shrugging and smiling up at Starscream.

"Uh, opps?" she asked weakly before Starscream glared at her.

"How did you think he was a bug?" he demanded.

"He was scuttling and had six limbs," she replied before she tried to wiggle out of his hold. "It was an honest mistake!"

He growled before dropping her on the ground in front of the scuttling medic and ordered something in Cybertronian. She growled slightly, hating it whenever they spoke that language just so she couldn't understand what was being said. She was going to learn how to speak it as soon as she could just so they couldn't use that stunt anymore. She watched the medic scuttle over to her and started to chatter away, pulling out various scopes out of his body. He held them to her and continued to chatter away, to which Ravage didn't even bother trying to translate because of the "unnecessary words that no one really wants to hear anyways". She guessed it had something to do with her femme anatomy because most of the mechs in the room were now squirming uncomfortably.

"Well, I can come to the following conclusion," the medic called as he pulled away. "Ravage's spark is residing inside her chassis and on top of that has transformed from a mech's spark to a femme's! Incredible."

"Thanks...now I feel like a freak of nature," she growled before standing up and flicked her tail in annoyance. "If you're done, I'll just...."

"Sit down," Scalpel snapped, pointing a foot towards the ground. "I'm not done! There is still so much to learn about a specimen like you."

Caraden was unable to stop herself from winding up and drop kicking the medic across the room. She never recalled having that good of a kick, but Ravage roared with laughter in her mind at the sight of the little insect-like mech flying across the room and screaming. He crashed into the wall with a loud thud, falling in a mess of broken legs and rolling around pathetically. She snorted before she flicked her tail again, planning on stalking off towards Soundwave and going to rest off the embarrassment of being turned into a science experiment. However, she was grabbed roughly by the scruff and hoisted into the air again, earning an enraged yowl from her as she took swipes at the face of her attacker.

"Enough!" Starscream snarled as he shook her. "I will not stand for you attacking any of the other mechs, is that understood?!"

"Oh what do you care?" she demanded, her tail flicking around angrily. "You're the Second in Command, not the leader!"

"I am now, brat," Starscream growled as he brought his face close to hers. "Megatron's powers were stripped from him during that last battle, leaving me in charge again. I suggest you get use to following my orders or you will find yourself in a very unpleasant position."

"You mean worse than right now?" she growled in reply before she started thrashing again. "Put me down, will you? I'm not a sparkling!"

"You're about the size of one," he snorted before dropping her onto the ground.

She landed on all fours, tail standing straight up behind her before she sneered at him and made to stalk off. "Keep it up and I'll use your leg as a scratching post," she muttered before she wound herself around Soundwave's leg. "And what did you mean by 'Megatron's powers were stripped from him'?" she asked.

"The remaining shard of the Allspark was slammed into Megatron's chest, again, and the powers of the Allspark were taken away as easily as they were given," Starscream replied. "As such, he was killed in the process."

"Whoa...brutal," she replied with a shiver as she huddled against Soundwave's leg.

Soundwave snorted slightly before he bent down and scooped her up, letting her stretch herself out on his shoulders with a content purr. "Do not forget your place should he return, Starscream," he advised before he recalled the rest of the Cassetteicons.

Starscream glared at him before he snorted. "You just worry about keeping your new Cassetteicon safe," he sneered in reply. "I'm sure any one of the mechs would just love to step on your precious, little Carnage."

"'Carnage'?" Caraden asked as she sat up. "What is he on? My name is...."

"It is incorrect to refer to you as your human name considering you are no longer human," Starscream replied with a wave of his hand. "But it is also incorrect to call you 'Ravage' just because his spark resides within you. You are a mesh of both entities now, 'Carnage' if you will."

"Starts with 'Caraden', ends with 'Ravage'," Skywarp piped up from where he was leaning against the wall. "I'm surprised you came up with something that original, Screamer!"

"Shut up, Skywarp," Starscream snarled.

"Carnage," Caraden murmured as she rolled the name around on her glossa. "I like it."

'_As do I,"_ Ravage purred. _'Starscream has a surprising talent for creating original names.'_

Soundwave nodded slowly before he turned and walked away. She rested on his shoulder and let her tail dangle off, silently waiting for his scolding for kicking the medic around like a football. However, the only thing he did was stroke her head gently and got a contented meow from her in response. She smiled as she curled around his neck like a black scarf and purred happily. Things were going to be very different from now on, but at least she knew she could always turn to Soundwave no matter what.  
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**Author's note: **Well, I decided some time ago after I watched the second transformer movie that I would make the story become similar to it. Well, for that to happen, Megatron had to die...again, poor guy. I don't think I made Camren's reaction to the circumstances very realistic but, meh. He had his scream-fest so it should be good...I think. Yeah, poll's still up for a while and this story probably doesn't have too many chapters left. (Hint hint)


	10. Back To Earth

Chapter 10 Back To Earth

Space was very cold. There was no other way to describe it. But at the same time, if caught in the sun's rays, it was unbearably hot. The constant change between hot and cold ground against the best of bot's nerves and circuitry, but an alt. mode provided added protection against the cold. Or, even better, resting inside another body protected much more important and delicate circuitry from the sudden drastic changes in temperature.

Carnage was curled up in Soundwave's chest compartment, her tail tucked neatly over her nose as she recharged. Two years had passed since the incident in Mission City, two long years of training with her brothers, the Seekers, and espionage missions that had molded her into an almost unidentifiable youngling. She had long since adapted to being called "Carnage" instead of "Caraden" or "Ravage"; the two of them acted as one and could switch controls without anyone realizing the difference until they caught her smirking at them. Ravage even ceased to identify himself as a mech, the mental voice picking up a very feminine tone over the course of their time together. They were Carnage, and often when speaking, said "us" or "we" instead of "me" or "I".

Starscream had recently taken his trine back to Cybertron to look after the "hatchlings"; the next generation of Decepticons. From what Soundwave had told her, the nursery was losing too many of the young protoforms to even dream of replenishing their ranks, let alone their planet. With the low-tech way of breeding failing miserably and the number of femmes loyal to the Decepticons dwindling rapidly, it truly looked as if the Cybertronians were doomed to extinction. They all knew that if worst case scenario came to life and the last of the hatchlings died, Carnage would be expected to mate with the mechs in the army, something that even Starscream had sworn would be the absolute last option.

In spite of his cold and snappy manner, Starscream had a set of morals to rival Soundwave's. He refused to let any femme under his care, now that he was leader, be used as an interface toy by the bigger and meaner mechs. He had already sent a mech into the Matrix for going after one of the other femmes; Slipstream, she believed Soundwave had called her; and had threatened the rest of the army with a cold promise to follow him swiftly should they touch any of the other femmes. Carnage was safe from their prying optics and primitive urges because of Soundwave's position in the army. He terrified the other mechs into submission and none of them dared to get on his bad side, should they end up suffering a most painful demise.

Speaking of the mech, he was currently stuck in permanent orbit around Earth, collecting data from the humans that sent their radio waves to him by mistake. When he had revealed that he had an alt. mode in the form of a Cybertronian satellite, she had been shocked speechless for several long moments before she had broken down into hysterical laughter. She had received a harsh lecture afterwards about insubordination, but the irony of the mighty Soundwave unable to do anything in his alt. mode but orbit his opponent to death was just too funny.

"Hey, you still sleeping?" Rumble called from where he was half-embedded into the side of the compartment.

"Not anymore," she yawned in reply as she slowly uncurled herself to stretch out in the confined space. "What's wrong?"

"Nothin'," he replied before she felt him shifting slightly. "Well…actually, I've been getting' restless. I wanna get out and kick some Autobutt!"

She purred in amusement before stretching herself out as far as she could go again. "You know we aren't allowed, Rumble," she replied. "The Autobots would tear us to shreds."

"I know," Rumble whined. "I'm just so bored!"

'_I know how to get rid of your boredom, brother,'_ Lazerbeak growled down the bond; if there was one mech who hated his recharge being interrupted, it was Lazerbeak.

"Uh…I'll pass," Rumble replied before growing silent.

Carnage smirked before curling up again. She knew that she was getting a little too big to continue recharging inside of Soundwave, but a part of her was too frightened with the immense change that was coming to even suggest it to him. She would be the first and only Cassetteicon that did not have the privilege to co-mingle within Soundwave's body. The very thought sent a terrified shiver through her, making her tail stiffen and almost dig into the wall beside Frenzy's slumbering form. Soundwave's gentle presence soothed her immediately, comforting her like she was a sparkling again. She purred softly before curling up tighter, red optics focused on the back wall that protected his spark from the universe.

She became aware of Soundwave moving and she sat up quickly to look out the glass window on his chest; he must have just received orders to collect information. This was faster than an orbital movement so he must have been about to do something important, something extremely important to the Decepticon cause. She watched as her father angled himself towards one of the satellites that orbited Earth and watched as he drew nearer to it. He must have been trying to intercept the communications from the Earth military group that worked with the Autobots. She blinked several times as a panel on Soundwave's lower half slid away and several long, silver cables slid out and started to creep across the surface of the satellite. Her optics widened as she watched them push under the metal on the innocent Earth device, flowing into the circuits like many demonic snakes until Soundwave had anchored himself to the top of the satellite with a satisfied grunt.

"Holy slag!" she screamed as she reeled backwards and scrambled as far away from the glass as possible. "Soundwave's raping a satellite!"

Silence greeted her words before Rumble let out a snort of laughter and fell from where he had been attached to Soundwave. He landed in her lap and lay there clutching his stomach as he kicked his legs out, roaring with laughter. Soundwave's growl of anger rumbled through the compartment, but it was drowned out by Rumble's howling.

"And just think!" he squealed before pointing at her. "Those were the same cables that held you to the back of his alt. mode!"

Carnage's optics widened before she let out a squeal of disgust and slammed her hands over her audios. Ratbat snorted happily from where he was embedded in the ceiling, his clawed wings holding onto the metal as he threatened to fall as Soundwave pushed him out of his hold. Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, and Frenzy landed in their robot modes beside her, snickering at the embarrassment that flooded the bond from Soundwave. It was cut off quickly, but it couldn't disguise the fact that Soundwave had let her words get to him.

It was a long time until Soundwave reopened the bond to them. They had calmed down by then, curled up around one another like a large bundle of metal blankets. At his call, Carnage raised her head, blinking recharge from her optics before he called again, his voice taking on a commanding tone as his chest plate opened up slowly. She wiggled out of her siblings and leapt through the opening into the cold vastness of space, squeaking at the sudden temperature change before she flipped herself over and dolphin kicked her way onto Soundwave's back.

"Carnage, enter Ravage suit. Operation; retrieve Allspark fragment," he ordered before he added. "Reedman will be accompanying you and is already situated in the holding tank."

"Fun, fun," she muttered sarcastically before she wiggled into her suit.

It was a larger form of what Ravage use to look like, built by Skywarp and Starscream to aid her in battle. Since the Autobots were not aware of her taking over Ravage's role, the Air Commander had decided to make her a suit that would make their enemy believe that Ravage had merely grown over the course of the countless stellar cycles lost in space. It helped give her a few more feet of height when she went on all fours, since she was just as comfortable running on them as she was on her hind legs. She fitted herself easily into the suit and let her consciousness slip into the wires now connected to her. Her optic flared for a moment before she transformed into the missile mode and started plummeting to Earth.

'_Yehaw!'_ she crowed as she streaked through the atmosphere.

'_Oh, this is quite exciting,'_ Ravage teased gently from where she was curled up contently in the middle of her mind, tending to all the information that was being transmitted. _'Plummeting several thousand feet to the surface of a planet where the impact could kill us.'_

'_Spoil sport,'_ she teased back before she plunged into what she believed to be a shallow lake.

She burst out of the water with a single powerful leap, snapping her jaws as she got reacquainted with the suit's functions. She turned to where a high fence was set up, the coordinates she received from Soundwave pointing her in that direction, and where she felt the gentle disturbances of high amounts of radiation identical to Allspark energy emanating. She charged forward, her paws not even making a sound in the soft dirt, and vaulted over the fence without any problems. She glanced around, the rockets on her hips whirling to life quietly as she stalked through the facility. She could feel Reedman moving around in the holding tank located in her stomach and headed quickly for a ventilation tube, wanting to dump him as soon as possible.

She clamped her mouth over the tube and started purging the skinny annoyance out of her holding tank, wincing at the sharp sound of metal striking metal as all his components fell down the tube. When the last of the Decepticon was gone from her, she slipped away and started prowling around the base, looking for something to offline and keep her busy. She knew that they would have to move fast to get the shard out of here; Soundwave was already sending new coordinates where she was to meet up with several of the other Decepticons still in hiding on Earth. They were going to revive Megatron apparently; Scalpel just got crazier every time she met him.

She heard shouting before a rocket struck the building behind her, poorly aimed by the gunner manning the gun. She snarled at him and fired off a rocket, letting Ravage take over the aiming as she set to work getting in contact with Reedman. He was already on his way out, hacking and slashing his way back to the surface while she kept the humans busy. She spotted a flash of silver metal before she felt him scrambling onto her hind leg, clutching her as his thin, frail body was rocked back and forth by the explosions around her.

She snarled again before charging away, leaping over the fence again as a clip of bullets ate the ground behind her. She roared at the humans that had gotten in her way, knocking them aside like pieces of dirt as she charged on. She crushed several beneath her giant paws and felt the sticky blood clinging to her as she ran, but she ignored it, setting her sights on shoreline. She heard humans shouting behind her, but she charged in without stopping and broke away from the shore with powerful strokes that easily carried her away from the base.

"Did you get the shard?" she asked Reedman as he crawled up onto her head.

"Yeah," he replied, waving the shard in her face. "Now what?"

"Hold onto it until we reach the freighter that the others are on," she replied, impressed that he was actually respecting her authority for once. "After that you can cling to one of the others for a while."

"Fine by me; your holding tank is way too cramped for my liking."

"Pest," she grumbled.

He didn't bother with a retort for that comment; it's best not to get the femme carrying you through the water mad. She swam easily through the water, realizing that what she thought to be a lake was actually the seashore, and started encountering huge waves. She battled against them for a short while, coughing water out of her intakes as she swallowed it, before she finally sealed them off and plunged under them. She swam easily after that, not even making a ripple above the surface, before the hull of the freighter came into sight. She swam after it, keeping close to the ship incase radar picked her up; she pretended she was a dolphin before and had not been caught when she was following a military vessel.

She easily swam up to where the other Decepticons were hiding and launched herself onto the deck, slipping behind the crates as quickly as she could. She glanced up as the sound of shifting gears and metal cut the quiet air and nodded to the mechs that were crouching amongst the cargo. Scalpel scuttled over to her and clambered onto her back beside Reedman, clucking about something or other. She glared at the others, blaming them for making her carry the obnoxious creep, before they all leapt over the side, and back into the water.

They headed for the sea floor, several hundreds of feet below them, and the other mechs' headlights illuminated the dark waters. She noticed several invertebrates swimming nearby, staring at them with huge, intelligent eyes before vanishing in a cloud of ink. She shook her head before she angled herself towards the shimmering, silver lump on the ground, landing beside Megatron's body with a gentle thump. The creatures that had been resting on his frame swam away as fast as they could, startled by their swift approach, as Scalpel landed on the fallen leader's chest.

"Kill ze little one," he called evenly over his shoulder.

Reedman clung to her for a moment, single optic huge before they watched the mechs turn on their smallest companion. He let out a weak cry of "no" before he was silenced and dragged closer for Scalpel to pull the necessary parts to repair Megatron. The Allspark shard looked huge in his pinchers as he lifted it over his head, then plunged it into Megatron's chest, making him convulse and his optics flare online.

She reeled backwards in surprise, not expecting him to snap forward so violently or fast, her single optic widening. His optics burned into hers for a moment before he spun around, making a small motion towards his back as he prepared to surface. She didn't even stop to think about what her orders were before she latched onto his back and held on as he rocketed towards the surface. She felt metal slide by her back and watched as a submarine sank past them, the humans onboard flailing helplessly in the water, their eyes wide as they tried to reach the surface.

She watched their eyes glaze over before their mouths opened in an eruption of bubbles. Their bodies went limp and sank into the darkness with their ruined submarine, every last trace of them vanishing forever. She shivered inside her suit before Megatron burst out of the water and transformed, making her scramble into his cramped cockpit so she wasn't tossed off as he suddenly catapulted through the skies and left Earth far behind.

'_Um…I'll be home soon,'_ she called to Soundwave down the bond.

'_Don't do anything stupid,'_ he replied gently.

She purred her amusement before curling up and keeping her head low. Megatron was unaware of who she was, probably thinking that she was Ravage since there was no way for him to differentiate between mech and femme in her suit. He didn't speak to her as he travelled through space at an astonishing speed, probably more focused on not crashing into asteroids. She had almost dozed into recharge when Megatron suddenly flipped over and dumped her onto a hard, metal surface, making her roll away under a bunch of hanging blue sacks.

"Megatron!" Starscream's voice squeaked as the Seeker came into view.

Megatron didn't waste time in beating him up, snarling something about insubordination and being the rightful leader before he moved off with a huff. She watched as one of the sacks broke and a small robot tumbled out, squeaking in a weak, pleading voice. Cold tendrils of dread encircled her spark before she watched Starscream gently pick the robot up, cradling it to his chest as his optics darkened with pain. She raced over and reached up on her hind legs, trying to get a better look at the weakly chirping thing. It stared at her with fading red optics before she let out a low moan of pain and hung her head as pain overcame her.

"There's nothing we can do for it," Starscream sighed as the little robot let out one final cry and fell silent.

"That was a hatchling, wasn't it?" she whispered.

He nodded before he stroked the dead hatchling's cheek, his optics filling with pain as it lay limp in his arms. She pressed her nose to its chest before she fell back on her haunches and hung her head, her tail curling around her as Ravage let out her own internal wail of pain. Voices reached her after a few minutes and Starscream stormed off with the dead hatchling still held tightly to his chest, a look of rebellion in his optics. She didn't move from her spot, staring up at the hanging sacks. Which one would die next, which one wouldn't receive the energon it needed to survive and drop from its sack? Wasn't there something they could do? Wasn't there anything in the universe that could protect these little ones from dying?

A sudden wave of hopelessness overcame her before she staggered to her feet and padded unsteadily over to where one of the sacks leant against the ground. She lay down beside it and stared through the blue membrane that kept the hatchling inside safe from the harsh environment of Cybertron. She could see a small outline inside, shifting around while its body developed in its cocoon, and a small red optic blinked momentarily out at her. She pressed herself closer, carefully, and leant her head against the sack.

"I'll do everything I can," she whispered, almost hearing a soft purr of happiness from within. "I swear I'll try to protect you with every fiber of my being, little one."

She lay there for a while until she heard Starscream summon her. She lifted her head, ears perked, and reluctantly pulled away from the hatchling, giving it one last stare before she turned and trotted over to where Starscream had disappeared. She noticed all the large fuel lines that were crawling along the ground, making her jump just to keep going, and wondered where they led. She spotted Starscream crouching beside a throne, his red optics flickering nervously about, and Megatron half bowed over, his optics staring at something in the throne with admiration and fear. She tilted her head curiously before she trotted over to Starscream and leant against his leg, blinking up at him before meowing.

"So, this is the Carnage you told me of, Starscream?" a dark voice asked from the throne, making her jump in surprise. "Hardly more than a hatchling herself."

She stared at the black mech sitting in the throne, her optic widening in surprise and fear as she took in the terrifying face. It looked like a mutated human pharaoh, full of spines that rose and fell as it breathed. She pressed herself closer to Starscream's leg, shaking slightly as the red optics narrowed as it lifted a clawed hand and beckoned her closer, ignoring Megatron's incredulous look.

"Come here, little Carnage," the mech growled.

She swallowed before padding forward, bringing herself within reach of the slim mech. One of his hands travelled over her back and she shivered at the cold tendrils that spread through her body at the touch. He let out a low chuckle before he looped his hand under her haunches and scooped her up onto his lap, making her squeal in surprise. Ravage let out a furious hiss inside her head, snarling and pacing within the confines of her consciousness, letting her know just how much this was unacceptable. She glared up at the mech even as his hand travelled over her back again in a slow rhythm, soothing her terrified nerves enough to make her curl up and purr in contentment. She always did love a good petting.

"Such a delicate little thing, Starscream," the mech chuckled as his hand continued to stroke her. "I can see why you are so protective of her."

"She is not going to be a brood mare," Starscream growled.

"I shouldn't think so," the mech grunted before he rubbed behind her ears. "She is a soldier, am I correct? Soldiers are not treated with ill respect."

'_Should we trust him?'_ she asked nervously.

'_Wait and see,'_ Ravage replied, her voice just as uneasy. _'I don't like him, not in the least.'_

His fingers slid down her back on last time before he stopped petting her. She lifted her head up and looked at Starscream, wondering what he would tell her to do now. He averted his gaze, mouth twisting into a sneer as Megatron let out a growl. She winced, realizing her mistake a little late, and looked over at him. His optics were dark with outrage but he ignored her before turning to the mech again.

"How will we harvest the energy we need?" Megatron asked.

"There is a harvester on Earth, hidden somewhere on the miserable mudball," the mech replied before snorting. "Use that to extract the energy from the sun. With that gone, we will have enough energy to replenish our ranks."

"What about Earth?" Starscream asked curiously.

"It will cease to exist," the mech laughed.

"No!" Carnage shouted without thinking, spinning around to hiss at the mech.

The three of them stared at her, her metal bristling in outrage. He couldn't destroy Earth! That was her home! She lived there, it sheltered her, it sheltered all the Decepticons that had come to answer Starscream's call. Her family was there, they lived there and relied on the sun for their planet to survive. To think of the Earth just ceasing to exist made her spark stop pulsing inside of her.

"Excuse me?" the mech growled, optics flashing.

"You can't destroy Earth!" she replied bitterly, her tail curving over her head.

"Why not, wench?" Megatron demanded.

"Earth is our home," she replied, so use to talking about herself and Ravage at the same time that she didn't notice Megatron and the other mech's confused expressions. "We rely on it and call it home."

"Cybertron is the birthplace of all Transformers," Starscream stated calmly. "You will adjust."

"Who's side are you on?" she demanded as she whipped around, lashing her tail angrily around behind her.

"The side that is going to save all of the hatchlings," he replied, his optics narrowing.

She winced backwards and hung her head, remembering her promise to the little hatchling still nestled safely away in its sack. Was that what she was going to do to make sure it lived, give up her home? Was it worth it? She gave her head an angry shake before she leapt down and stalked away, leaving them to deliberate more without her. Her tail dragged behind her as she headed back to the incubation chamber, her head spinning with the thought of destroying Earth so that these young ones could live.

'_Why must it be so hard?'_ she whispered to herself.

'_No decision in life is ever easy,'_ Ravage murmured gently before she sighed.

She walked over to the same nursing sack as before and curled up, staring through the membrane at the little sparkling inside. Is that what this little one wanted? Did it want her to give up her home so it could live? It sounded selfish, but she knew that it would want to live rather than fade away before its time. Would humans be so different? Wouldn't they put their own selfish desires first as opposed to care for another creature's home? Everything seemed to make sense then, but what about the other innocent people on Earth? What about the ones that did care for others, who never put their lives first? None of them would get a say in what happened, not after the Decepticons found that harvester.

But it wasn't her choice. She would have to follow orders, just like every other soldier. Soundwave wouldn't bat an optic shutter as Earth died, letting Megatron do what he wished. The Autobots would save as many humans as they could, the ones that lived anyways. But she couldn't trust that the Autobots would even protect them all; what good was a dying race to them when their own kind was on the brink of extinction? There would be no sense of camaraderie; they would only see them as another mouth to feed, another person to look after on top of their problems. Humans would cease to exist, one strong species forced into extinction by another; the cruel circle of life.

It wasn't fair though; why shouldn't they be able to defend themselves? They weren't stupid animals like the ones that ancient humans hunted. They could think on their own and make life-shaping decisions, why couldn't they have a say? She closed her optics and covered her face, wondering what would happen now? She had openly attacked the decision and would be punished for her words; would Megatron terminate her?

Her thoughts were cut short by the sounds of feet stopping nearby. She lifted her head up and looked up at Starscream, who looked sympathetic. He reached down and stroked her helm gently before he transformed into his Earth mode, opening the cockpit for her to clamber into. She easily leapt up into it, curling up against the pilot's chair as he took off into space.

"That was a foolish thing to say," he commented after a while. "Megatron wanted your head mounted for saying that to The Fallen."

"Earth is my home, Starscream," she mewed sadly, pressing her head into her front leg. "What else am I suppose to do?"

"Remain silent," he replied before sighing. "Carnage, what do you expect from us? To leave your homeworld alone when we could use it to save ours?"

"There are hundreds of other stars out there!" she snapped in reply, turning her optic on his steering wheel. "Why must you pick on Earth?!"

Starscream was silent for a long time, leaving her to believe that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. She bit back her snarl before she curled up again, wanting nothing more than to stick her tail into his circuits and make him as uncomfortable as possible. She was half-way through flipping her bladed tail over and stabbing it into the floor beneath her when Starscream's voice cooed at her.

"Earth is the most fertile planet we've come across to date," he replied gently. "It is only natural for us to want to take that to save ourselves."

She had to agree with that, but she still didn't like it. "You'll be killing another race," she murmured. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Darling, we're Decepticons; we believe in survival of the fittest," he replied. "One species slags another so that they can survive."

She growled to herself before she snorted at him. "That theory died in civilized cultures," she sneered.

"It's reborn, now stop complaining; you're hurting my audios," he snorted in reply.

"I'm hurting your audios?!" she asked in outrage before she flipped her tail straight into the ground beneath her to evoke a scream of pain from the Seeker. "At least my voice doesn't sound like nails on a God damn chalkboard!"

They screamed and yelled at each other the rest of the way to Earth, neither backing down. Several more times she stabbed Starscream's interior with her tail-blade, and he continued to scream as loud as he could to grind against her audios. Soundwave's curiosity spiked for a moment until he figured out what the two of them were up to, then he very quickly shut out all of their mental waves and dragged his satellite as far away from them as he could get.

"What…is he doing to that thing?" Starscream asked as they streaked by.

"Raping it," she replied before stabbing him again. "And you're still a coward!"

"I should throw you out!" he snarled.

"You wouldn't want to face Soundwave's wrath," she snapped.

He fell silent after that, concentrating on not plowing into the ground as he streaked across the sky. She prepared for impact since Starscream just loved to run into things when entering an atmosphere. There was a loud thud as Starscream touched down, sending shockwaves throughout his entire frame, and shaking her as she clung to his interior, digging her claws in as painfully as she could. His cockpit opened quickly as she was out just as fast, pelting across the open space in search of a hiding place; she was in trouble now that Starscream could transform.

She heard his bellow of rage behind her before she darted behind a building, slipping out of her suit faster than the blink of an eye. It stood motionless where she left it, distracting Starscream long enough for her to slide into a building and clamber up behind one of the Decepticons waiting inside. She received several cusses thrown at her, but ignored them as she quickly dove for cover as Starscream stormed in.

"CARNAGE!" he bellowed. "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'LL TEAR YOUR TAIL RIGHT OFF!"

"You have to catch me first, Screech!" she shot back before she raced towards the door, slipping out through it.

She heard his steps following her amidst the laughter of the others. She flicked her tail before taking off, her tail streaming out behind her as she darted for cover. Starscream's bellow reached her seconds before his hand came down on her shoulders and pinned her to the ground. She squeaked in surprise and started wiggling desperately, her tail waving around behind her as she tried to slice into Starscream's arm. He picked her up off the ground and snarled at her as she dangled in his grip, her tail flailing around uselessly.

"You care to repeat that last statement?" he growled.

"Slag off!" she spat before wiggling again.

He let out a low growl before he gave her a shake, just like he use to when she didn't do something right. She hissed at him before reaching over her head to claw at his hand, spitting in rage at being handled like a sparkling. He stopped shaking her and glared down at her before dropping her unceremoniously onto her aft, earning a squeak of pain in return. She glared up at him and stuck out her glossa before she got to her feet and dusted herself off, muttering about pig-headed Seekers.

She glanced up as a very feminine laugh reached her, grimacing at the annoying tone. A slim silver figure not much taller than a human was smirking at her, tentacle-like hair billowing around her head. She strode forward until she was looking up into Carnage's face, leaning in too close for comfort and it was taking everything she had not to lash out to drive the smaller femme away.

"Didn't you look cute, dangling from his hand," the femme sneered.

"Slag off," Carnage snorted before twisting her head away. "Starscream's an aft anyways."

"Aw, is the little femme getting defensive?" the femme sneered.

"Little?!" she demanded as she rounded on the silver femme, shoving her face into hers. "Who're you calling little, you midget?!"

The femme let out a hiss before she pulled her fist back to punch her. Ravage leapt forward and took control of their body, twisting them away from the blow before raking her claws across the other's face. She let out an audio-splitting scream as she staggered away, clutching her face as energon oozed out of the wound. She let out another screech before she lunged at her, landing a blow to the side of Carnage's head. They went down in a tangle of limbs, throwing punches and clawing at each other, Ravage's battle-cry roaring through the air as she tried to fasten their jaws onto the other's throat.

She could hear others shouting at them, some cheering them on while others shouted at them to stop the horseplay. She didn't care who was talking at the moment; she was ten feet tall now and was going to lay a sound whooping on this femme's aft for insulting her. The other femme's hair started tightening around her throat, cutting off her air supply in an attempt to get her to stop fighting. However, running training sessions in space with Soundwave had helped her grow use to fighting without air; she merely turned her intakes off and kept wailing away, the slight discomfort of having her throat crushed the only indication that something was wrong.

She flipped her tail up and stabbed it deep into the other femme's shoulder, earning a scream of pain. The tentacles slackened around her neck long enough for her to gather her feet under the other's stomach and kicked out as hard as she could. She was sent flying off of her at the same time Carnage yanked her tail out of the other's shoulder, sending a spray of energon all over the ground. She landed in a heap not far away, her red optics narrowed in rage as they settled on her. Carnage smirked before gathering her feet under her and preparing to spring on the injured femme, ready to teach her a lesson, when Starscream's hand closed around her scruff again.

"Enough!" Megatron's voice bellowed. "Starscream, control that femme!"

"I'm trying!" Starscream shouted as she started struggling in his grasp, clawing his hand in a mad attempt to escape. "Ow! Carnage, stop that!"

"Let me go!" she snarled as she wiggled, her optics never leaving the other femme as she was delicately picked up by one of the other mechs. "I'll rip that femme's head off of her shoulders!"

"Be still!" Starscream snapped before he gave her a small shake to snap her out of her bloodlust.

She let out one final hiss before going limp under Starscream's claws, panting heavily as she tried to draw air in around her damaged throat. His grip relaxed before he picked her up and lifted her head up to get a good look at the damage the other femme had inflicted. His fingers ran along a large gash in her cheek that she hadn't noticed was there and she winced away as pain flared up. His red optics filled with sympathy for her as he held her close to his chest when he finished looking for injuries.

She purred weakly before she leant on his chest, offlining her optics as she relaxed. She could hear Megatron shouting something nearby, but she chose to ignore him as she settled down to rest. Ravage let out a yawn as she curled up in her confines, purr echoing around in the depth of her mind. She wasn't aware of Starscream poking around her circuits as he started to repair her, muttering about female dominance issues, nor was she aware when the other femme showed up to insult her, only to get kicked out of the room by an annoyed Starscream. She woke up to find Starscream poking something into her arm, his gaze on the needle in his hand.

"What the slag is that?" she demanded as she managed to lift her head up.

"An adrenaline boost," he replied as he rubbed the spot where he had injected the needle. "It's to help you get back on your feet sooner."

She purred her amusement before she sat up, realizing that she had been resting on her stomach the whole time. She gave herself a shake before she licked her hand and drew it over her ears, purring more at the sight of Starscream rolling his optics at her. She gave herself a shake again before she stood up, staggering slightly as she tried to get her balance back. His hand steadied her before she leapt down and waved her tail at him.

"If anyone asks, I've gone for a ride," she called before she raced off towards the exit.

She heard Starscream yell something about avoiding Autobots and rolled her optics at how obvious that idea was. She wasn't dumb enough to let herself get caught, in case he forgot, and she only was ever almost caught once and it had not been her fault. It had been her tail's; how was she supposed to know it was going to get stuck in that input slot? Rumble had been three seconds away from just cutting it off so that they could get out of the Autobots' temporary headquarters when she had finally just manually turned the blade and ripped it out. That had been the most embarrassing moment in her short life of a Cybertronian and she wasn't planning on going through it again.

She transformed as she streaked out of the base, hitting the highway just as her hologram materialized, and headed for Mission City. She went flying down the highway, going well over the speed limit, and weaved through the traffic that got in her way. Drivers honked their horns at her, cussing at her for her daredevil tricks, but she ignored them, as per usual.

'_Dad,'_ she called down the bound, rousing Soundwave from his recharge, _'can you get a hold of Camren for me?'_

Soundwave was silent for a few minutes before he replied. _'He's not home,'_ he stated. _'Answering machine picked up.'_

'_Dang it!'_ she whined before zooming around a huge transport truck that was slowing down traffic. _'Then can you find Val's cell?'_

He was silent again before he patched the call through her com. link. "Hello?" Valerie's voice asked, a little garbled from the reception.

"Hey Val," she greeted. "You in class?"

"Caraden!?" she gasped before letting out a shout of delight. "What are you doing?"

"Going to see you, obviously," she laughed before taking a turn into to bypass Mission City. "Where are you?"

"College," she replied. "I just got out of my bio class."

"That's real informative," she sighed. "Where are you?"

"Oh, right, forgot you weren't there when I left this summer," Valerie apologized. She proceeded to tell her where her college was.

It turned out that she and Sam Witwicky had ended up at the same place. She had seen him earlier that day, complaining about his roommate being a complete nut. When Carnage asked her where Prowl was, Valerie's voice became painful and sad.

"Freshmen aren't allowed cars," Valerie explained. "I had to leave him at home."

"That's too bad," Carnage replied before she started heading for the college that was half-way across the country. "At least you know he's waiting for you back home, right?"

"Prime called him out a few days ago," she replied bitterly. "Some covert secret mission or something stupid like that. It's a pain in the ass!"

"Hence why I love my Decepticons more," she laughed as she crossed over a border into another state. "It's best if we stop talking, in case someone taps into the line. I'll see you in a bit, Val."

"Later Caraden," she replied before hanging up.

The drive was quiet as she set out across the country. She was faster than any of the vehicles around her and didn't run into any police cruisers along the way. That was strange considering most people always get caught the moment they get one point over the limit. Before the sun began to set, she was already pulling into the parking lot of the college. She wasn't expecting to see Valerie waiting for her, knowing that she probably had classes. However, at the sight of her friend's beaming face as she swung her hologram off of her frame, she was surprised and delighted.

"Val!" she called before she solidified her hologram and hugged her friend. "You're looking healthy."

"It's good to see you too!" Valerie agreed before beaming. "God, you don't know how lonely it's been the past few years! Sure, Sam and Mikeala still talk to me, but it wasn't the same, you know, like when we use to hang out all the time."

Carnage blinked several times before poking Valerie. "Sweetheart, you're rambling."

"I am?" Valerie blinked before cursing. "Damn it! I've gotten so bad lately!"

Carnage laughed before she looked around her. "Shouldn't you be in class still?"

"No," Valerie replied. "I was in Bio today to get to know where my classes were. There's a party going on if you want to attend; I'll say you're a friend of mine."

She nodded in agreement, following her best friend away from the parking lot. Ravage let her know that she would be remaining with their frame, intending to get some much needed peaceful recharge, while she went off to party. "Caraden" followed Valerie into what looked like a small house set just off campus, where loud music and shouts drifted out into the street. Excitement coursed through her before she subtly changed her appearance; the last thing she needed was someone from Tranquility recognizing her after she had been "dead" for two years.

The music met them like a tidal wave as they walked in through the front doors, several of the other students nodding to them as Valerie waved. No one bothered to stop them as they wandered around, finding the buffet fast enough and Valerie grabbed a few little snacks to munch on as they caught up with each other. It didn't take long to cover everything and they lapsed into comfortable silence as they watched the other students interact around them.

"Sam!" Valerie called, waving at the boy as he appeared through the doorway.

His head came up and he blinked several times before he realized who was waving at him. He walked over, glancing over his shoulder as if looking for a stalker before he sat down beside Valerie.

"Hey," he greeted before looking at Carnage and blinking. "Do I know you?"

"Carline," she replied with a smile. "I live off rez."

"Oh, that's why I don't recognize you," Sam laughed before clearing his throat. "So, uh, what, what courses are you taking?"

"Nursing," she replied. "Costs an arm and a leg to get in here, but I managed."

"Cool, cool," he replied before rubbing his head. "So, uh, Val…wasn't expecting you to be at the party, you know? Not after…well…you know."

"Yeah, I know," Valerie sighed before smiling. "But, I can't let that slow me down, right? Caraden would have my hide if she knew I wasn't living life to the fullest."

"True enough," Sam agreed.

They started talking about the newest music, something that she knew very well because she forced Soundwave to upload everything for her to keep her from getting bored. It broke off abruptly when a blonde girl suddenly dropped onto Sam's lap and began to make some very obvious advances. She bristled immediately, not really believing what she was seeing, and Valerie was gawking at the girl in horrified disbelief. Sam, for the most part, look highly disturbed and terrified as the girl leant in too close for comfort.

"How about, tonight, you pretend that I'm your girlfriend," the girl purred.

Carnage had to lock her jaw together to stop herself from screeching in fury; that girl sounded exactly like the femme from the base. But that was impossible, unless…. She quickly sent a message to Ravage to scan the girl in front of them, who was trying to claw Sam's shirt off at the moment, and got the results fairly quickly; it was indeed the exact same femme. Looks like the shorty took on a human alt. mode instead of a vehicle; she wasn't aware that they could do that.

Sam made a hasty retreat at the sound of a car horn going off, racing away to see what was wrong. The girl hissed after his retreating form, eyes narrowed in outrage at being brushed off. Valerie's cell phone went off and she quickly headed outside to answer it, leaving her alone with the femme.

"What are you playing at?" she hissed bitterly.

"Excuse me?" the girl sneered, eyes glaring into her now. "Where you talking to me?"

"No, I was talking to the other robot behind you," she replied sarcastically before standing up to shove her face in the other girl's. "Now I want to know why you're here."

"Autobot?" the femme squeaked.

"Hardly," she snarled in reply before taking a step closer. "I'm the one that stabbed you through the shoulder this morning; ring any bells?"

"You," the femme growled before turning away. "If you stuck around to listen to orders, you'd know why I'm here, you waste of metal!"

"Look who's talking!" she snarled after her before she vanished around the corner.

She was boiling below the collar now, wanting nothing more than to rip something apart. She glanced around before heading for the door, planning on going to talk to Valerie and warn her about the Decepticon that was hanging around campus and after Sam, when she spotted a yellow Camaro with black racing stripes parked just outside the door, not to mention in the flower bed. She gasped and hid from sight, staring wide-eyed at the Autobot now that Sam had gotten in. Two very big boys stalked past her, grumbling about freshmen, and she watched as the other Decepticon femme climbed into the passenger seat, looking around the interior with fake interest. Just by the look on Sam's face, he had not invited her in. She waited until they were gone to sprint across the grass to where she saw Valerie standing.

"Hey Val, I," she cut off mid-sentence in a horrified gasp as she caught sight of the black Ford Mustang parked right beside her. "Sonova bitch!"

"Hello, Caraden," Prowl greeted casually as his hologram appeared beside her friend, pretending to step out of the car. "How odd it is to run into you here, especially when your guardian is not on Earth."

"Prowl," she greeted through grit teeth; she was in deep slag if he had figured out her secret. "Good to see you too."

"Where is Soundwave these days?" Prowl asked.

"That's really none of your business," she replied coldly, the faintest grimace gracing her face. "But I'm touched by your concern for my guardian."

"It's hardly concern," Prowl replied curtly. "I'm sure you are of the increased Decepticon activity?"

'_Duh,'_ she thought before smiling. "How could I not know?"

Prowl's eyes narrowed for a moment before he looked down at Valerie. "I picked up a Decepticon signature while Bumblebee was here; you'd best keep a sharp eye out for anything unusual," he stated gently, running his hand over Valerie's head.

She couldn't help but smile at the sweet display of affection that the Autobot Second in Command had for Valerie. It appeared that their relationship had evolved similar to hers and Soundwave's. With any luck, Prowl will adopted the role of her father-figure swiftly and with no complications. That is, if he survived the war.

"Yeah, and don't trust that girl that was putting the moves on Sam," she added quickly. "There's something off about her."

"Decepticon off?" Prowl asked.

"No, just…off," she replied with a shiver and a shrug. "I have to get going; it was nice to see you again, Val."

Valerie hugged her tightly in response. "Yeah, it was good to see you too, Caraden," she murmured. "Do you need anything?"

She shook her head before waving and heading back to where her frame was, making sure to let Prowl see her walk back towards the parking lot on campus. She swung herself up onto her frame and took off down the road, hoping to bypass Bumblebee and not cause a fight that she would most certainly lose; ten-foot tall robot verse fifteen-foot tall robot equaled death, end of story. She knew she was going to get an earful when she got back to base, both from the mechs at the base and Soundwave for doing something so reckless.

'_Soundwave will understand,' _Ravage purred before yawning. _'It wasn't so long ago that he did stupid things.'_

'_Ravage, think about what you just said; Soundwave doesn't DO stupid,'_ she chided in return.

'_Meh,'_ she commented.

Carnage laughed as she sped down the highway, heading back to where the base had been set up. Maybe she'd get in a round of training with Starscream before she was sent out again.

**Author's note:** Thanks again to everyone that voted. I'm impressed and shocked at how popular this story is. I'm sure you've noticed that there will be a small gap between the ending of this story and the completion of the _It Takes A Girl_ trilogy. Well, since _Time Jumping_ does not have that many chapters left and the aforementioned story does, as well as _Infinite Bond_, I figured I should get it out of the way as soon as possible. Sorry for the troubles, but it must be done. Next chapter for this? Um, probably in a few days; nice change from a few months later, no?


	11. Search For The Harvester

Chapter 11 Search for the Harvester

Carnage grumbled lightly as she felt Starscream shifting around underneath her. This was the last time she agreed to share a berth with him, no matter how tired she was after training. Sure, it seemed like a good idea at the time, since he was the only mech she trusted out of everyone that was there, aside from Blackout; who was strangely telling everyone to call him Grindor;, but that didn't mean that he could hog the whole berth. She felt him shift again and she onlined an optic to glare down at his face, still deep in recharge, willing herself not to claw his optics out.

She stretched and yawned widely, her tail curling over her head as she sat down again. She licked her hand and drew it over her ears, comforted by the daily routine now that Soundwave was somewhere high above her head and not near enough to offer his safe sleeping quarters to her. He was always present in the bond, no matter what state of inactivity he was in, and was constantly pouring his encouragement into her. She paused as she felt Starscream shift again, muttering something in his sleep before his optics onlined dopily.

"Morning, bedhog," she snorted before flicking her tail.

"It's my berth," he grumbled before poking her. "I can take up as much room as I want."

She rolled her optics before leaping off of him and onto the floor, sinking her claws in as she landed. She heard him chuckle before her before his foot touched down on the ground behind her, scraping along the ground as he heaved himself to his feet. She flicked her tail again as he stepped over her and headed out the door, leaving it open long enough for her to dart out into the hallway. She looked around curiously before heading for the base's entrance, knowing that she wasn't going to get any form of energon today and that there wasn't any point going and looking for it.

The entire army was on rations; sever rations at that; until they could find that harvester. It didn't matter that one of the Constructicons had almost dropped dead a few days ago from lack of energon in his body; they all had to get by on the most minimal amount of energon that they could afford. It didn't help that Thunderblast was taking her sweet ass time getting the information out of Sam on the location of the harvester; the stupid glitch was adapted to eating human foods to retrieve her energy and obviously didn't care about the rest of them that were starving waiting for her.

She snorted at the thought, her tail slicing the air behind her as she headed outside, nodding her head to Rampage as he cracked his whip a few times in an attempt to practice his aim. He nodded back, not really looking at her as the training dummy twitched slowly towards him. She leapt onto the top of one of the mechs who were sunning themselves in their car mode, earning a grunt from the mech; before she settled down to soak up some energy. Relying on solar energy to fuel themselves just proved how desperate they were; this type of energon, while filling, ran out very quickly and more often than not had her feeling drained about an hour later.

Her tail twitched as she heard a large mech trod by, her ears perked slightly before she settled back down to reenergize. She heard someone mutter something nearby and turned her head slightly to look at the large excavator that was currently swinging its scoop around. The mech let out a small grunt before settling back down, grumbling again, but she let it be. The Constructicons had every reason to be antsy, being the only combiners on the team and having to get by on minimal energon meant that they were weaker than ever. Her optics offlined and she must have dozed off because she didn't remember falling asleep on top of a mech's arm.

She sat up quickly, digging her claws into the armor underneath her as she started to tip sideways. She heard a loud hiss of pain before she looked up curiously at Starscream, whose mouth was drawn back in a grimace of pain. She apologized before relaxing her grip, settling back down on his arm as the sound of Megatron's snarling voice washed over her. She still couldn't understand Cybertronian for the life of her and Ravage was forced to take over so that they wouldn't screw up whatever mission was assigned to them.

"Starscream," Megatron actually snarled in English, "you're carrying your pet there. I want her ready to attack on a moment's notice!"

"Yes sir," Starscream replied smoothly before he turned away.

"How long was I out for?" she asked with a yawn after they were out of audio range.

"Long enough to miss Thunderblast's call," he replied before he squatted down beside her suit and set her down. "Now get in; Megatron wants to get moving."

"Yeah, yeah," she replied before crawling in and hooking herself into the wires. "But how does he expect you to carry me?"

"Same way you got here," he replied before transforming and hovering a few feet off the ground. "In you get."

"Oh joy," she sneered before leaping into the open cockpit. "Now I have to listen to your voice even more!"

He let out a low growl before blasting into the sky. She heard another engine blast by beneath them and flicked her tail slightly at the thought of Megatron getting that close to Starscream. It was no secret that he still held treasonous thoughts in his head, but was Megatron really dumb enough to get within range of Starscream's null rays? She gave herself a shake before settling down on the floor of Starscream's cockpit, curling her tail over her leg as she waited the journey out. It didn't take long before she was suddenly pitched head-first out of Starscream's interior and into the air with a yowl of surprise.

"Hey!" she shouted before she rolled across the ground and slid under a rock outcrop. "A warning would be nice!"

"Megatron wants us to wait here until he calls," he replied sweetly, grinning as she crawled out and shook herself off. "Aww, did I hurt you?"

"Keep it up and you'll show up in pieces," she snapped before she sat down and curled her tail over her paws. "What are we waiting for anyways?"

"Thunderblast ran into problems collecting the boy," he replied while flicking his claws. "She's working on tracking him down again."

"Dumbaft," she snorted before pacing back and forth in front of him.

How annoying it was to have to wait now that the stupid floozy had lost the prey. Her tail twitched in irritation as Ravage let out her own growl of discomfort, her pacing mirroring her own. Starscream chuckled somewhere above her as he walked a short distance away and stood staring out over the city below them. She rolled her optics before hopping onto a stone beside him and thrashed her tail behind her as she stared off into the distance. She could faintly pick up the sounds of screaming in the distance and Starscream braced himself for takeoff.

"That's our cue," he replied before leaping into the sky and heading for an old factory sitting just below them.

"Oh, thanks for the update!" she shouted after him before leaping down the cliff side after him.

He let out a loud laugh before crashing through the roof and vanishing from sight. She snarled before leaping in after him, landing with a thud on the concrete floor before spinning on the humans that she had smelt nearby. Her spark lurched at the sight of the three humans that scampered away from her, shouting in loud voices as their eyes widened in horror. Mikaela, a human male she did not recognize, and Valerie was gawking at her as she started pacing in front of them, growling viciously to keep them back as she heard Sam let out a shout of protest.

"What is that thing?!" the male demanded.

"Leo, do me a favor and shut up," Valerie hissed before shooting her a terrified look. "Do you want this one to attack too?"

Carnage purred in agreement before she lashed her tail to emphasize the threat that she was. She could hear Sam letting out more shouts of protest over the sound of Scalpel's chittering about something or other. She kept her sensors on the humans cowering in front of her until something made a loud and annoying beep on her scanners, making her draw her attention away for a moment. She let out a yowl of surprise before she spun around and bolted towards Megatron, her single optic widening as she tried to reach him.

"Megatron, sir, Optim…," she started to shout before the Autobot leader fell through the ceiling and started shooting at them.

She hit the ground with a yowl of fear, clamping her paws down over her head as the ground shook around her. She heard foot stamping around her before she felt a foot drive itself into her side and send her flying with a loud yowl of pain. She flipped over in midair and lunged at whoever had kicked her. Her claws sank deep into black armor, earning a loud cry of pain before heat seared past her back, making her freeze in surprise. She had just attacked Ironhide; she'd be lucky if she could get away with her suit still intact.

More plasma shots shrieked past her before she whipped her tail up to stab into Ironhide's hip, going purposefully for his old injuries. He let out a bellow of pain as he started to double over and she used that moment to launch herself away from him. She looked around in fright before she charged for the red and blue mech that was currently beating Megatron up. She leaped onto the mech's back and raked her claws into every inch of armor she could reach, earning a cry of pain as the armor split beneath her paws and energon streamed out. The mech's hand reached back and grabbed her scruff before she was thrown across the building, hit the wall with a loud thud, and landed on the ground with a soft grunt of pain.

Static fizzled through her circuits, her bearings a jumbled mess of signals, and she lay there for a moment before voices brought her back to reality with a jolt. She shook her head swiftly before gathering her feet beneath her, her single optic darting around as she tried to determine where the voices were coming from. She spotted Mikaela dragging the human male into Bumblebee's interior as Valerie stumbled in behind them, shooting a terrified look over her shoulder. She let out a snarl before leaping forward, scoring a long gouge into Bumblebee's bumper before he veered away from her and out the door. She lashed her tail angrily before looking around for another target, only to watch as Optimus fired off one of his guns and Megatron jumped right into the bullet.

Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "He did not just _jump_ into that?" she demanded before she watched Sam go running past, his eyes wide in fear. "Ooh, prey!" she mewed in delight before charging after him.

"Sam, run!" Optimus shouted before his foot connected squarely with her underside, sending her skidding across the ground again.

She flipped over with a snarl of rage, lashing her tail around before she noticed that everyone was leaving. She immediately charged after them, leaping over the broken machinery as they all vanished into the forest. The sound of fierce fighting reached her and she decided that she didn't want to be a part of it. She veered away and focused on her sensors, trying to pick up any traces of the fleeing Autobots. She charged into the forest and followed Bumblebee's fading signal, hoping that she caught up in time to rip him open and pull the humans out, just to watch them scream and shout in terror. She caught sight of his neon yellow paintjob up ahead and started to move faster, the thrill of the hunt racing through her, when a sudden pain swelled through her.

She swerved around before hitting a tree dead on, causing it to topple over and snap beneath her. She flailed uselessly in the branches, her voice coming out as static as the pain flowed through her. It originated from her spark and coursed through the rest of her, intensifying around her face before Soundwave's hollow wail of pain echoed through her mind.

'_My brother! Dead! My brother!'_ he wailed. _'Prime! Prime will pay! My brother!'_

She screamed something very similar, thrashing around in the tree branches as the pain intensified. She was acutely aware of another mech standing nearby, snarling something at her, but her pain made her deaf to the noise. Only after Soundwave's wailing faded away was she able to roll back to her feet and shoulder her way out of the tree she had taken out. She stood shaking as her body was relieved of its pain, her knees knocking as she fought to remain standing.

"You done malfunctioning?" Starscream's voice snapped.

She snapped her head up to stare at the massive mech towering over her. He was gripping his detached right arm tightly in his left fist, his red optics boring into her face with enough fury to make her wince. She took a step backwards and shuffled awkwardly on her paws, trying to find words to describe what had just happened. The only problem was she wasn't even sure what had just happened.

"Did…did Blackout…die?" she asked nervously.

Starscream's optics darkened for a moment before he nodded. "How would you know," he growled, "considering you skipped the battle."

She placed her paw on her chest and sighed. "I felt it…and Soundwave wants Prime's head for this."

Starscream's optics darkened again before he turned away. "Get back to base," he snapped before taking off.

She nodded slowly before she turned and trotted away, part of her hoping to get lost in the forest and never be found again. Starscream was angry with her for skipping out of the battle, not that she would have been much help. Prime was far stronger than she could have ever hoped to be. She would have just gotten underfoot and gotten trampled under their massive feet. Her tail twitched slightly before she heard engines overhead and glanced up. Starscream landed on the ground in front of her and shook his head as if to dislodge an unsettling thought.

"Never mind, come here," he growled before reaching down to pick her up. "You'll never get back to base before midnight in that suit."

She let out a soft purr before leaping onto his arm, leaning her head onto his shoulder as he took off. In his current state, he couldn't transform and go any faster than what his jetpack would allow. Not that she cared, she didn't mind flying with him, no matter how much they bickered and snarled at each other during the day. Starscream's finger trailed over her back, evoking a purr of delight from her, and time slowly slipped by until he touched down outside of the base.

"Thanks for the lift," she mewed before she jumped down and turned to face him.

"Don't let Megatron see you for a little while; he's in a foul mood for losing the boy," Starscream snorted before turning and taking off again.

She flicked her tail before heading into the base, planning on dumping the suit off in the Constructicons' med bay to have it patched up. She slipped in and let out a loud meow before hopping onto an examination table, flicking her tail back and forth as she watched Scrapper's head twist around to look at her. He walked over and set his hand down on her head, running it over a few dents she had acquired and plucking bits of foliage out of her joints.

"What did you do? Get into a fight with a tree?" he grunted before he slipped his hand over the catches on her back to let her wiggle out.

"Almost," she replied before hopping out of her suit and shaking herself off. "I ran into one and couldn't get out."

"Wonderful," he snorted before he nudged her towards the door. "I'll have Long Haul drop it off when we've repaired it. Might be later tonight; we have a lot of patients to attend to."

She nodded her agreement before she heard a scornful laugh. "A tree? My, aren't you pathetic?"

"Thunderblast," she replied with a grimace. "How…delightful to see that you're still online."

She glared at the silver femme as she leant on Mixmaster's arm, several tendrils of hair whipping around. "Can't say the same for you," Thunderblast sneered. "You're pretty dumb if you skipped out on Megatron and his battle."

"I would have just gotten underfoot," Carnage replied as her tail twitched in irritation. "Where were you?"

"I was getting repairs," she replied with a wave of her hand. "I had an excuse."

"I was trying to capture the escaping humans, something you are not capable of doing," she spat before turning around.

"You want to repeat that, you ugly glitch?" Thunderblast screeched before a wrench connected squarely with her helm.

"You fragging glitch!" Carnage hissed before spinning around, and preparing to lunge across the room. "You'll pay for that!"

"Make me!"

"Tramp!"

"Skank!"

"Slut!"

"Whore!"

"Bitch!"

"What's a bitch?" Thunderblast demanded.

"You know what a whore is but you don't know what a bitch is?" Carnage snorted before sticking her nose in the air and smirking triumphantly. "I win."

Thunderblast's face twisted into rage and her mouth opened into a screech of fury, but Mixmaster's hand clamped down on her neck. "Alright, that's enough, both of you," Hook snorted bitterly before pointing at the door. "Carnage, out, now."

"Yes sir," she replied before leaping off of the table and walking out the door. "Later, tramp!"

She heard a loud screech of fury before the door slid shut behind her. She snorted in contempt for stalking away, her tail lashing dangerously around her head. She saw several of the other mechs step out of the way, chuckling and pointing at her as she headed for the training area. She slammed her hand down on the access panel, tapping her foot impatiently as the scanner took its time reading her signature. When the door flashed green, she walked in and started punching in the commands into the control panel, wanting a serious workout to help relieve her newfound fury.

The training dummies whirled to life, their mechanical arms swinging robotically around. She let out a snort before crouching down and swishing her tail behind her, optics locked on the one directly in front of her. She hurled herself forward and sank her claws deep into the dummy's side, tearing at it for a moment until the gun on the next dummy came online, and fired just over her shoulder. She paused for a moment, long enough to hear the locking sequence on the gun home in on her, then launched herself over the dummy and flipped herself over, watching with a satisfied grin as it was blown up. She snapped her tail up and sliced the head off of the next dummy, bringing her foot up the next second to kick another one away from her.

She brought her fists up to block the dummies fists from striking her face. She ducked under an outstretched arm and scored a deep gouge into a chest before she leap backwards to stab her tail into a dummy's torso. She lashed her tail around, using the dummy's body as a flail to take out the others before she heard them power down. Panting, she pulled her tail free and glared at the entrance to the training area, wondering who had dared to interrupt her. Her energon level skyrocketed as she caught sight of the giant beige Seeker standing beside the control panel.

"What's the big idea?" she demanded as she rushed him.

His hand came down and inch from her hind leg and she shot up his outstretched arm. Launching herself from one jutting piece of armor to the next, she aimed her claws for his face, hoping to at least shatter the optical glass. He let out a cry of shock before he ducked, making her fly right over his head as she overshot her target. She yelped in surprise before she tried to flip herself over to land on her feet, only for his hand to close around her tail. She hissed and spit in rage as she tried to twist herself up high enough to rip into Starscream's hand, only for her torso to get trapped in his other hand.

"Would you calm down?" he snapped before glaring down at her and snorting in disgust. "You're more wound up than a cyber-cat's playtoy."

"It's Thunderblast!" she snarled while squirming to get loose. "That stupid glitch keeps rubbing me the wrong way!"

Starscream sighed before setting her down on his shoulder and petting her head gently. "Just ignore her," he replied before he left the training area.

She grumbled her discomfort before snuggling against his head and holding on tightly. She really didn't want to fall and have to get more repairs done after she had just finished leaving the med bay. Her tail flicked lazily back and forth as she felt herself slowly slipping into recharge and she yawned widely as Starscream walked into the makeshift rec room. She caught sight of a black and white mech and waved weakly as Barricade locked optics with her.

"Hey runt," he grunted in greeting as Starscream sat down beside him. "How's Frenzy?"

"Fine," she replied as she stretched out on Starscream's shoulder to get a better look at him. "Still as spastic as ever."

He grunted before reaching up to stroke her head. "That's to be expected with a name like 'Frenzy'," he snorted.

She nodded before curling around Starscream's neck. She was on good terms, so to speak, with the foot-soldier now that she wasn't a human. Or it could have been his way of making up with Soundwave for failing to keep a better watch over Frenzy when he was entrusted to his guardianship. Either way, it was good to have one mech backing her up now than to have the same one trying to step on her. His claws continued to scratch her neck and she purred happily on reflex, vaguely wondering if she was just viewed as a pet as opposed to a soldier.

She curled up closer to Starscream's neck, probably looking like a metallic boa, and promptly fell into recharge.  


She pulled up to the fence and swallowed nervously as she peered through the chain-link. The humans were gathered around Optimus Prime's dead body, giving her a perfect opportunity to slip by. However, the huge machine guns and Autobots with more weaponry than she had rotating parts of armor was a very big drawback. She would have to be either very lucky or very fast, preferably a mixture of both.

She leapt over the fence and raced for the huge bay doors, knowing just how much a black metallic femme stood out on open ground. She had decided to leave her suit behind because it would have attracted more attention than she would have wanted, considering the base was located farther in from the nearest highway and she had no other way of getting there besides an air-drop. She slipped through the bay doors without catching anyone's attention and merged with the shadows, creeping along the wall as she tried to find the computer she was looking for. She spotted it after a human moved away from the console, muttering angrily under his breath as he headed outside after another human.

She stole forward as swiftly as she could, glancing around at the vacating hanger in paranoia. Something important must have been happening for them to clear out so fast. She slipped up beside the computer and slid her tail into the input slot, twisting it around as she hacked into the main frame. She sat down awkwardly on her rump as she started downloading the information, feeling immediately swamped as it took up every last bit of free space in her processor. Ravage was working double time to sort through everything, grumbling in annoyance as things started to pile up. Just as her head was beginning to spin with too much information, she downloaded everything, just in time to hear the humans heading back into the hanger.

"Shoot," she hissed before trying to stalk away, only to get yanked back a second later. "No!" she moaned.

Her tail, once again, was stuck in the computer. She tugged on it several times, staring around in terror as the humans drew closer. Ravage was trying to be the voice of reason, but even her voice was starting to get higher and higher as the humans approached them obliviously. She reached up and grabbed her tail between her hands, grasping the sharp blade that was just poking out from where it was embedded in the console, and started turning it with all her might. She heard a loud gasp of shock behind her and cursed before she ripped her tail out of the slot and stumbled backwards.

"Intruder!" a bellow rose around her before a plasma ball whizzed over her head. "It's a Decepticon spy!"

"No shit there, Sherlock," she grumbled before she rolled over and darted away.

She raced around the hanger, dodging around computers, humans, and volleys of plasma fire. She raced out of the hanger and hit the ground as fast as she could before Sideswipe's blade sliced the air where her head had been a moment later. She gasped and rolled to the side as the blade slammed into the ground, the Autobot's blue optics narrowing in her direction before he made another attempt to hit her. She let out a yowl before she spun and charged across the open tarmac, dodging around the lasers that were fired after her. She sensed another mech approaching and slowed herself down enough to avoid getting clobbered as Ratchet tried to slam into her from the side.

Ratchet hit the ground with a grunt and she leapt over him, clawing for a grip as she tried to take off again on all fours. She heard huge jet engines overhead and looked up in shock before she smirked. Starscream was on a collision course with the tarmac and she readied herself for when he would pull out of his steep dive seconds before impact. She had only one chance to get this right, otherwise she was toast. She crouched and bobbed a few times before she launched herself into the air, seconds before one of Ironhide's infamous plasma shots blew the ground up beneath her.

She was in the air for a few moments, gaining height before she fell into Starscream's open cockpit with a soft grunt. She landed in the pilot's seat and waved at the Autobots as he took off into the sky again. She laughed before leaning backwards to hug the chair she was sitting in, rubbing her face against it.

"You have no idea how happy I am that you came along," she purred.

"Judging by that purr, I'd guess very happy," he replied before tilting himself towards the west. "Megatron wants that information right away."

"Great, then I can have some free room up here again," she joked as she tapped her helm. "It's cramped enough with Ravage; it doesn't need more information clogging it."

Starscream merely chuckled in reply, probably holding back a smart remark to her proclamation. She curled up on the pilot's seat, her tail dangling over the edge and prepared herself for a quick recharge; she hoped the found more energon soon because she was getting sick of all the quick naps she had to take. It didn't even have to do with the fact that she was a cat either; she was just that tired.

She had dozed off and wasn't aware that they had arrived until after she woke up in Megatron's claws, her tail held tightly between his fingers. She let out a grumble before she wiggled her tail loose, curling it around her as she sat up and stared up at him in annoyance. He flipped his wrist over and gave her a pointed look, to which she responded with a slight twitch of her ear before flicking her tail around to stick her tail into the exposed port on his arm. She started downloading everything to him, knowing full well that she had the opportunity to download a virus into his systems if she wanted to. Only the knowledge that Soundwave would give her a serious licking for attacking their leader saved her from succumbing to the urge.

She felt the last of the information transfer over to her leader and she jerked her tail out of the port, giving it a slight flick to clean it of the energon stuck to it. It looked like she had broken through the armor by accident, not that Megatron seemed to notice. His optics were distant as he set her down on the ground and walked off, denying her silent plea that he walked into a door on his way out. She looked around and snorted before she trotted out the door, grumbling to herself as she headed down the hallway.

"Lost, runt?" Barricade's voice called.

"Hardly," she replied before she turned to face him, lifting her head up to frown at him. "What makes you think that I would be lost?"

"You're walking around with your head down," he replied before reaching down to let her scramble up his arm to sit on his shoulder. "That's enough proof."

"I was thinking," she replied.

"Don't hurt yourself," he teased.

She groaned before giving him a jab in the side of the head. "I think you've been on Earth too long," she replied. "You're humor sucks."

He chuckled before walking on down the hallway, his strides even as they passed by some of the larger mechs. They gave him hearty shoves, gwaffing with laughter when he stumbled under the impact, but it did not bother him. Her tail flicking around was enough of a warning as they passed by, optics darting around as she tried to see who would attack next. They moved on down the hallway, not swapping a word in conversation as she lay draped over his arm in tranquil contentment, until they reached the rec room. She looked up and blinked as Starscream tossed a cube to Barricade, his red optics bright for the first time in a long while.

"We've finally managed to get some decent energon," he called before she hopped down and raced over to him, planning on stealing his share just to spite him. "And don't you even think about it, shorty!"

He snatched his own cube up just as her paws slammed down on the bench beside him, making her snort in disbelief as she glared up at him. She wiggled her back end before springing up his arm, swiping at his cube as he pulled it out of her reach again. He let out a loud laugh before he chugged it back, letting her squawk angrily before swatting at his hand again. He set the cube down before flicking at her, trying to dislodge her from where she had planted herself on his shoulder. She hissed wildly before she sprang at his hand, pummeling his palm with her legs as she latched onto his wrist when he tried to pull away. His laugh echoed around her before she was pinned down on his lap and forced to endure a sudden tickle attack.

She squealed and tried to wiggle away, enjoying the sudden sense of familiarity that the action brought; Starscream still recognized her as a sparkling even though in human years she would be close to maturity. Starscream was highly attached to every sparkling that was under his watchful optic, or so she had been told, and he must have considered her just another one to look after. She heard Barricade let out a short gwuaf of laughter before she was released and set on the bench beside Starscream to smooth her armor down. She glared at Starscream before he offered her a full cube of energon, smirking at her as she took it gratefully and started lapping it up.

"This will do us good," Barricade grunted as he sat down beside her and nodded to Starscream. "With The Fallen and Megatron constantly planning, one knows that a battle is approaching."

Carnage paused and wiped her chin clean of any dripping energon before she looked up at Barricade. "Do you really think they're dumb enough to send us into battle in our current states?" she asked.

"Do not think otherwise," Starscream growled before his finger travelled down her spine to make her purr and arch her back into his petting. "Megatron would send us into battle even if we are all on the brink of death; that is how the Decepticons run."

"But it's foolish," she grumbled before shaking her head. "Why can't we just move that damn harvester to another planet and steal the energy from a different sun? What difference does it make that it has to be Earth's sun that is used?"

"Revenge," Starscream replied matter-of-factly.

"You're kidding?" she deadpanned before growling and throwing her arms over her head. "All this bullshit is just so that The Fallen can heal his wounded pride?! I almost got my head shot off because _he_ thinks all this is worthy of his bruised ego?! Arg! Men are so _stupid_!"

"Watch it," Starscream growled before he gave her a sharp jab in the side. "The Fallen can hear what you say if he wishes to."

"And if he has a problem with me he can come find me himself," she replied evenly before she flicked her tail around.

Starscream's gaze was heavy before he sighed and leant against the wall behind him. She glanced over at him and let out a soft _purrow_ before she hopped up onto his lap to curl up. His fingers stroked her back gently as they both eased themselves into recharge, knowing that it might be the last chance they get before they head out to wherever their leaders sensed the Harvester. She let out a long yawn before she snuggled closer to Starscream's body and dropped off into recharge.

It felt like only a moment had passed by before she was shaken awake by Megatron's harsh voice. She blinked her optics online and stared around curiously as Starscream and Barricade snorted awake and snapped to attention where they sat. She gave herself a shake before sitting up and looking to where Megatron's voice originated from, blinking recharge out of her optics as fast as she could when she saw the glint of fury in his optics. Starscream stood up and deposited her onto the bench before he bowed to Megatron.

"Yes, my liege?" he asked.

"Get your pet into her suit; we're moving out," Megatron snorted.

"Sweet…where we going?" Carnage asked before she hopped up onto Barricade's shoulder and stared at the silver mech.

"The Dagger's Tip," he replied before shaking his head. "Some place in the Mediterranean."

She tilted her head in confusion before running a quick search through the Internet. Her tail swung up before she smiled. "Awesome! We're going to Egypt! I'm so getting a picture next to the sphinx!"

"The what?" Starscream asked in confusion.

"You'll see," she purred before hopping onto the ground. "Did the Constructicons finish repairing my suit or…?"

"They did," Megatron replied calmly. "It's in their med bay."

"Be ar be," she snickered before darting between his feet and heading down the hallway.

They were waiting for her when she got there, her suit lying motionless on the table. She hopped up onto the table and thanked them for repairing her suit, earning a few chuckles and some much adored back-scratches. She purred softly before she clambered into her suit and stood up, shaking herself out as she made sure everything was in proper working order. She let out another purr of thanks before she leapt down and streaked back towards the rec room, hoping to pounce on Starscream's leg before he had a chance to leave.

"Don't even think about it," Starscream's voice called from the doorway to the rec room as she rounded the corner.

She slammed on her brakes and gawked at him before stamping her feet angrily; how had he known?! He smirked before he walked over and scooped her up, earning a disgruntled growl from her as she was carried around like a housecat all the way to the entrance to the base. Several of the other Decepticons snickered at her, but she ignored them as she received a large data-burst from Soundwave about the location of the Solar Harvester. So they did know where it was now; problem was to get there before the Autobots did. Apparently, Sam, Mikaela, Valerie, and the other human boy were already in Egypt snooping around for the key to make the harvester work.

She flicked her tail around before she was placed into Starscream's cockpit, settling down for another long flight to Egypt. She settled down and curled her tail over her nose to wait it out. Hopefully, if Primus did love her, Earth wouldn't be destroyed. Maybe, just maybe The Fallen and Megatron would realize that destroying Earth's sun really wouldn't solve anything because the sun was positively puny compared to other stars relatively close by that were much, much bigger. Her tail twitched as she sighed as quietly as she could; yeah, like that would ever happen.

**Author's note:** Yeah…sorry for the wait; school work piled up out of nowhere and then I couldn't get onto the computer that had the chapter saved. Yeah; also, not too many chapters left. I'm probably wanted dead for turning the story away from Soundwave's relationship with Caraden/Carnage and slapping my OCs into the middle of the new movie (totally awesome, if lacking plot) but it will all make sense soon! Or at least I hope it does….. Also, I so wanted to listen to Carnage and Thunderblast (Alice, I don't care really what you call her, I hate her) have a total verbal cat fight. Probably isn't as epic as I hoped it would be.


	12. Fight For The Harvester

Chapter 12 Fight for the Harvester

Carnage hit the ground as Starscream flipped over to land. She shook herself free of recharge as she looked around the barren desert ground she had been dumped on. Sand and stifling sunshine seemed to stretch on forever, making her black armor heat up unbearably. She shook herself again before she set off at a steady run to where the others were already fighting. She wondered how long she had been out for when she noticed that Starscream was circling over a wide stretch of abandoned houses.

"What are you going?" she demanded over the com link as she sped forward to find him.

"The boy has gone into hiding," Starscream hissed in reply as he landed and started shooting at a house. "Get searching."

"Yes sir," she replied before she put her nose to the ground and started sniffing.

She felt like a dog as she wandered around in circles, trying to pick up a trace of Sam. She couldn't even remember what he smelt like, for God sake, what good would she be? There was no time to stop and ask for anything that had his scent on it because the others were looking too. The only thing she could do was pretend to look like she was being helpful. She thought she heard a faint whimper behind one of the walls and perked her ears up curiously.

She took a step closer and opened her mouth to call to Starscream, only to notice a tiny robotic bird-thing fly into a small hole in the wall. She folded her ears back and let out a snort of anger at the thought of the stupid thing stealing her find when she saw Starscream turn towards the house, his optics narrowed. He took a step closer before he reached down and ripped the roof off, snarling in delight before he fired into the building. She heard screams before Sam and Mikaela came tearing out just in front of her.

She let out a yowl of delight before she gave chase, snapping at their heels as they turned into an alley between the houses. She spun around and reached her paw in after them, swiping at them until they vanished through the other side. Starscream leaped over the building and fired at them, earning a muffled scream before a loud crash echoed, followed by several chickens clucking in surprise. She wondered vaguely why there were so many chickens running around before she leapt up onto the building and took off over the roof tops.

Her foot broke through the rock several times, but she continued her pursuit after Starscream's massive form until he suddenly jumped into the air and took off. She gawked after him before she saw Rampage roll up and signal for her to follow him. She leapt down beside him as Starscream gave the order to spring the trap. She prowled in front of his scoop and smirked as Sam's parents tumbled out of the holding tank they had been in, scrambling blindly to their feet as they let out small noises of confusion. They stumbled away before they started shouting at Sam, spotting him in between the buildings, and racing towards him as Rampage transformed behind him.

"Move, shorty," he snapped affectionately before hopping after them.

"Sure thing, Jackhammer," she snorted before slipping behind a building to sneak around from behind.

She watched as Bumblebee appeared in the middle of the group, his gun out and aiming around as he searched for the Decepticon signatures. Rampage leapt down on the group and snapped his whip hard enough to break a wall just behind Bumblebee's head. He snarled before the two mechs clashed fist to fist, sending sand flying in every direction as the humans scampered for safety. She heard Sam tell Bumblebee to kill him and she flicked her tail nervously; well, at least she knew that Sam had some backbone in him. Rampage snarled before he wrapped his whip around Bumblebee's leg and yanked it backwards, pulling the yellow mech off of his feet and down hard onto his back.

Rampage's whip snapped back and came down hard on Bumblebee's chest, evoking a long whine of pain as his chest plate cracked under the pressure. As the whip went back up, the yellow scout rolled out of the way and flipped himself back onto his feet, shooting at Rampage as the other mech tried to follow him with his whip. Rampage let out a cry of pain before he lunged forward, catching Bumblebee around the waist and taking him to the ground. His fist connected twice with Bumblebee's face plate before he was kicked off and sent into another building, sliding to the ground before his whip was grabbed. Using it as his own, Bumblebee managed to swing Rampage around several times before he leapt into the air and fired his gun into the other mech's stomach.

"No!" she hissed before she charged forward.

She swung herself up onto Bumblebee's back and started clawing at him, biting into a several energon lines when she spotted them through his armor. He whined in pain as his hand tried to grab hold of her, missing her several times before she stabbed him between the shoulders with her tail, twisting it around. She felt wires slicing against her tail blade before she felt a large hand warp around her front half and ripped her off of his back. She gasped in horror before she started clawing with all her might before another hand wrapped around the base of her tail and started pulling.

'_Damn it!'_ Ravage roared before she surged her way forward and started removing them from the wires in the suit.

'_What's happening?!'_ Carnage screamed in terror before she felt herself being dragged backwards.

'_Carnage!'_ Soundwave's voice boomed through her mind before she heard the armor plating around her back give way. _'Hold on!'_

'_What do you think I'm trying to do?!'_ she snarled.

She felt the armor plating surrounding her give way before she was ripped backwards, breaking the hydraulics in her suit's legs, and coating herself in the yellow fluid. She gagged slightly before she was dangling upside down, staring up at Bumblebee's face while her tail was clutched just below the blade in his left hand. She froze for a moment, half-expecting to get a chest full of plasma, until she realized that the scout was staring at her lifeless suit instead of her. She was thrown aside, landing in a pile of dirt and coating herself in the gritty substance as the humans came running out of their hiding places. She counted to three before she slinked off, glancing over her shoulder to see how Rampage was. She met a set of dark optics and her ears folded down sadly; he was dead. She slipped around a building before she started heading for the outskirts of the battlefield, hoping to find Starscream so that he could transport her away from the here; she was no good to anyone without her suit. Ravage didn't even bother trying to argue over that point, focusing instead on trying to get Starscream's com link.

'_He's blocked it!'_ she snarled in outrage.

'_Keep trying!'_ Carnage begged as she felt the ground behind her explode.

She hid behind another building, curling her tail up to her face as she felt the earth shake beneath her feet. She clamped her hands down over her mouth and let out a scream of terror as the heavy rock structure began to crumble. She heard another scream and felt her fuel lines freeze up in horror; Valerie was somewhere nearby. She let out a yowl before she launched herself forward, racing along on all fours as she tried to find her friend's heat signature. She found it moments before another structure fell down behind her, followed by the bellows of pain from some of her comrades, only just managing to squeeze between two pillars before they collapsed behind her.

"Valerie?!" she cried as she crawled forward on her stomach. "Damn it, girl, where are you?"

She heard a weak response before she saw her friend's hand twitch on a fallen piece of stone. She leapt over immediately and started clearing away the rubble, digging her shoulder into the massive pieces in her haste to get rid of them. She looked down at her friend and almost let out a wail at the sight; she was covered with cut, bloody and covered in dirt, and her leg looked broken. She leant her head against her friend's body and received a weak pat in return.

"Thanks, Caraden," she murmured weakly, her brown eyes oddly distant. "I owe you one."

"Is Prowl nearby?" she asked, trying to ignore the almost surrender in her friend's voice.

"Lost my phone…can't reach him," she replied, her voice wavering before she smiled weakly. "Did you know Prowl lost a brother in the war?"

"Uh…no…I didn't," she replied, wondering what her friend was talking about as she tried to look for her friend's phone.

"His name was Bluestreak," she murmured quietly. "He was named because he could talk a blue streak. He started going off on a tangent whenever he got nervous or scared, but he was a brave soldier. He had wicked aim too. Best sniper the Autobots ever had; almost never missed his mark. He looked like a grey version of Prowl; kinda funny to think about really, you know, anyone looking like Prowl because Prowl looks so stern and mean and Bluestreak really doesn't look like that at all. And he really looked up to his brother and…."

Carnage froze in her search, her ears perking before she turned to look at her rambling friend. She realized how much Valerie sounded like the person she was talking about. But it couldn't be real, could it? Could there possibly be another person that was going through what she went through with Ravage, only that she knew what was wrong with her?

"Val…is Bluestreak…_inside you_?" she demanded.

Valerie looked over at her and smiled. "Yeah, he's been there for so long, but I never even knew he was there until after I lost you," she replied. "He just started turning up in my dreams and started talking to me, trying to get me to feel better, you know, cuz I was almost always depressed. He always talked about Prowl and how cool he was and how protective he was and all that stuff, the stuff that no one ever really knows enough about to talk to me about. I never realized that he was inside of me until Prowl happened to mention an Autobot that I had never even heard of before and suddenly I just started talking about him like I had known him all my life. It was weird and Prowl thought I had gone mad for a long time until he scanned me and discovered a spark signature running through my blood stream. He was afraid it was residue from radiation from his frame and wanted Ratchet to take a look at it until Blue just started talking through me and begged him not to tell and that no one would even notice it…."

Carnage groaned before covering her friend's mouth as she managed to find her phone and pushed it into her hand. "Call Prowl and get yourself out of here before something else blows up," she instructed before she slipped up to the opening that she had come in through, planning on sticking around until she was sure Prowl was coming.

"Thanks," Valerie murmured before she pressed a button that sent a message to the tactician. "God…I feel so tired."

"Don't fall asleep, whatever you do," Carnage warned before she heard approaching footsteps. "I hope that's Prowl."

She poked her head out of the hole and spotted the huge black mech striding towards her, blue eyes focused solely on the structure where Valerie lay. She slipped out and hopped onto a pile of rubble nearby, making optic-contact with Prowl long enough to notice that his optics were brimming with gratitude before he started moving the larger pieces aside to get at his charge. She turned to where she knew Devastator was suppose to be, only seeing a broken pyramid there instead of the monstrous Constructicon. She spotted Starscream moving around near the top, Megatron just beside him and turning his head around like he was looking for someone.

She hopped off of the rubble she was on and streaked towards them, knowing full well that she stood out like a sore thumb, being jet black and all, but she just wanted to get closer to some of her bigger comrades. She heard jets approaching behind her and rose up onto her hind legs to run faster, folding her ears back as she tried to widen he strides enough to stay ahead of the humans that were chasing her. She heard a snarl above her and looked up in time to watch large stones start to levitate in the air seconds before her feet were yanked out from under her.

She shrieked in terror before she caught the underside of a rock and clung to it as tightly as she could. She could see humans and machinery flying around her and swallowed before she readied herself to launch at the pyramid. She wiggled her rear end before she leapt off and dug her claws into the rock, gasping as she saw a giant tank heading for her. She clung to the pyramid and felt it brush against her before something very squishy landed on her head, followed by a loud snap. She yelped before shaking the dead human off of her head and stared at the man as he fell towards the ground in a spread-eagle. She shivered before slowly climbing up the pyramid, minding the military vehicles that had gotten lodged on the edges of the ancient pyramids, and sidestepping around the broken bodies of soldiers as they stared sightlessly up at the sky. She had almost reached the top when she heard jet engines approach and felt something very big fly by overhead before Megatron let out a roar of fury.

She poked her head over the top of the pyramid before she watched as Optimus Prime, complete with new black armor that looked like something off of a jet, blasted both Megatron and The Fallen off of the pyramid while Starscream ducked around him and slid down a ways. She made her way over to him as she heard the sound of metal striking metal behind her as The Fallen and Optimus Prime did battle.

"Someone want to fill me in?" she demanded.

Starscream looked down at her before frowning. "Where is your suit?"

"Long story," she replied before looking behind her. "So, what's the deal?"

"Prime just blew up the Harvester," he replied.

"Excuse me while I cheer," she replied with a smirk, not caring that he looked ready to crush her. "Hey, Earth is my home and I didn't want it to die; and don't give me any of the bullslag about Cybertron being my home now, or so help me Primus…."

"What could you do to me, shorty?" Starscream sneered before standing up. "Bite my ankles?"

"Don't tempt me," she snorted before he jumped over her and blasted off towards the fight. "Hey! I can't fly, afthole!"

She let out a growl before she started sliding down the side of the pyramid, hoping that she didn't make too much damage to one of the last standing wonders of the ancient world; how infuriated would the government of Egypt be if they obliterated it? She decided that she didn't want to know and just kept sliding down the rock, hoping to catch up with Starscream. She could hear explosions far ahead of her and heard the snarls of wounded soldiers seconds after. She leapt off the pyramid and landed in on all fours before she headed for the ruined temple.

She ducked as Megatron went flying by overhead before she turned to watch him land. "Uh…rough battle?" she asked when she noticed the state he was in.

He growled before rising to his feet, his face leaking energon and hydraulic fluid from where a laser had ripped most of the plating off. "We must protect The Fallen."

"What?" she demanded. "The guy that can use telekinesis, fly, and teleport needs protection?"

"Stop belly-aching and get moving," he snarled before heading back into the fry shooting.

She gawked after him before shaking her head and sitting down. There was no way in the Universe she was blowing her cover just so that the guy that wanted to destroy Earth was protected. The guy was supposed to be all powerful anyways; he should have been able to defend himself; just because he could only be defeated by a Prime didn't mean he was going to lose anyways. Just said he "could" be defeated. Besides, what was she going to do for him? Get stepped on and leave a nice greasy smear on Prime's foot? Yes, because that would really be helping; her best offer of assistance would be to stay out of the way she wasn't getting underfoot. She looked up and leapt out of the way as Optimus and The Fallen came charging at her, managing to get herself up onto one of the still standing pillars before they had a chance to stomp her into the ground.

"Crazy lunatics," she grumbled before she watched them attack each other. "Wow…now I see why he needed protection; I fight better than he does."

She watched in morbid fascination as Optimus proceeded to rip The Fallen's face plate right off, leaving the delicate protoforms layer exposed. He was shoved against an opening in the pillar below her before Prime's fist fit nicely through the center of the other mech's chest, reaching up to grip his face and yank downwards in a taunt, before he withdrew it. The once powerful mech slid to the ground, red liquid oozing from his mouth; what could that possibly be since Transformers did not have blood; and his optics went out.

"Master," Megatron whispered softly not far to her left.

"I do not mean to call you a coward, my lord, but sometimes, a coward lives longer," Starscream murmured before he turned and signaled for her to follow.

She hopped over to him and settled onto his shoulder, looping her tail around his arm as he took off. She heard Megatron follow him into the air, picking off a weak sensation of loose from the leader, and settled down more on Starscream's shoulder. He reached back to pick her up before he transformed and dumped her into his cockpit, shielding her from the atmosphere as he started heading off planet. She didn't bother asking where they were going, hearing Megatron behind them order Soundwave to follow.

Her guardian's presence strengthened around her and she purred as his spark reached out an enveloped hers. A mixture of fear and relief flooded her body, leftover remnants of the incident on Earth still coursing through her. Her brothers' weak calls of affection echoed down the bond, all of them stirring weakly out of recharge to greet her before lapsing back to sleep. She curled up on the bottom of Starscream's cockpit, ignoring his questioning noises as she settled down to recharge as well. She let herself be pulled into Soundwave's consciousness, mingling with her siblings and letting Ravage run around in a much larger area for a short while. She bounded away, rubbing her head against Lazerbeak's before she curled up to rest, her single red optic flashing in delight. Carnage smiled before curling up too, feeling Ratbat land on her and curl into her middle, resting his head on her shoulder with a soft squeak of happiness.  


"Hey, kittycat, wake up," Starscream called before she was dumped onto the ground.

She yelped softly before shaking her head and glaring up at him as he landed a short distance away, lowering his wings as he gazed sadly around. She spotted the hanging sacks and her spark filled with pain; they were all going to die now because they did not have enough energy to care for them. Soundwave and Megatron landed behind her and they looked around with similar expressions of defeat before footsteps headed for them. She perked her audios and turned to watch Skywarp and Thundercracker walk towards them, two sparklings held tightly in their grasp, optics shining with temporary hope before it died at the sight of their sullen expressions.

"What's going to happen now?" Thundercracker asked, stroking the blue sparkling in his arm's cheek.

"We will deliberate more," Megatron stated before moving to where The Fallen's throne was. "Follow me."

"Stay here," Soundwave ordered, stopping her before he moved on himself.

She huffed after him, watching as all of the full grown Decepticons moved off. She shook her head before she looked around for the sack with the hatchling that she had claimed as her own. She found it quickly and padded over, purring a soft greeting as she looked through the membrane at the hatchling within. She was about to settle down and rest beside it, hoping on using her connection to Soundwave to eavesdrop on the meeting, when she heard a noise that made her spark halt. The sack beside her was moving, but she knew that the hatchling within was nowhere near being ready to be born, so to speak.

She watched with horrified optics as the membrane split open and the tiny hatchling, no bigger than a full-sized human, slid out onto the ground. It let out a weak squeak and flailed for a moment, pre-mature air intakes trying vainly to work. Ravage let out a wail of disbelief before she paced uselessly around the flailing hatchling, trying to figure out what to do. In a state of panic, she picked the hatchling up and cradled it to her chest, cooing soothingly while stroking its face.

It blinked up at her with dim red optics, reaching up to reach her face with a soft giggle. She smiled before nuzzling it affectionately, wondering how long this one would last now that it was out of its protective cocoon. It cuddled closer to her, buzzing softly before it started poking around her midsection in search of something. Ravage leapt to attention and made something unravel from beneath her armor plating, connecting it securely to the hatchling's midsection. She felt the energon in her fuel tank slide through the tube that connected her to the hatchling and blinked as it snuggled closer, purring contently as its own fuel-tank was filled.

'_It's a feeding tube,'_ Ravage explained with a chuckle. _'I'm not sure how much good it will do it, the poor thing, but it's better than nothing for its fuel tank.'_

She nodded absentmindedly as she looked around quickly. She backed up a few paces before easing herself to the ground and curling up around the hatchling, listening to it as it clicked and whirled happily into her throat. It yawned before cuddling closer, red optics going offline as it slipped into recharge, making some coding that she wasn't even aware existed inside of her come to life. She ran her glossa gently over its head, feeling like a mother cat in that instant, before she rested her head next to it and drifted off, trying hard not to think of how it would be gone when she woke up. At least it had gotten one good meal before death.  


When she woke up next, it was to the sound of hysterical screaming. She lifted her head up groggily, blinking at Starscream as he all but danced around the broken sack that had held the hatchling. He was shouting something undecipherable in Cybertronian, so she ignored him as she turned her attention back to the hatchling. It was still cuddled against her side, optics flickering as it dreamed; of what she wasn't sure (what could something that has never lived dream of); and she felt relieved as she licked it gently again. The feeding tube was still connected to the little hatchling's fuel tank, even though she had no more energon to give it, but it didn't appear to be hungry.

"Carnage," Soundwave's voice called, while still a monotone, she could pick up the near frantic undertone.

"Over here," she replied around a yawn as she stretched her legs out.

"What are you going on the ground?" Skywarp asked, tilting his head in time with the white hatchling sitting on his shoulder.

She glanced at him before rolling over slightly to show off the hatchling currently fused to her midsection. "You'd sleep on the ground too if you had one stuck to you at my size."

Everyone's optics widened before Starscream leapt forward and almost crushed her as he slid down to get a better look at the hatchling. "Where did you find it?!" he demanded, his red optics blazing around its frame.

"Uh…fell from its sack," she replied, feeling oddly at ease with the massive mech being that close to the hatchling that her spark had screamed was hers.

"That one?" he demanded, pointing at the one sitting on the ground.

"Yup," she replied before narrowing her optics. "Why does it matter?"

Starscream's expression softened before he ran a digit over the hatchling's head, earning a soft whirl of contentment as it shifted closer to her and yawned. "Because, this one was created from my individual specs," he replied. "It is my sparkling."

"Oh…you have got to be kidding me?" she demanded before swatting at his head. "You mean I'm the mother now of _your_ kid?"

"That sounds bad," Skywarp snickered.

"It was supposed to," she replied before sticking out her glossa at him.

Soundwave crouched down beside her and his finger ghosted over the hatchling's head before he pet her head. She felt like a mother cat that had just given birth to a kitten, and flicked her ears in mild irritation, her optics narrowing when she caught the glint of amusement in her guardian's optics. She was almost about to tell him to stop looking so smug when she suddenly spun around and lashed out with one hand, claws extended to tear at the silver armor of the mech that had come too close for comfort. Her optics widened as Megatron snatched his hand back and regarded the torn metal on the back of his hand.

"I should have known that a femme would be defensive of her hatchling," he commented with an even gaze.

Starscream let out a low chuckle before he scooped her up and held her and the hatchling close to his chest. With a loud yawn, the hatchling onlined its optics and stared up at Starscream curiously. It let out a loud chirp before reaching for the large Seeker, clawed hands reaching towards its creator's face. Starscream dipped his head down and let the hatchling rest its hand on his nose. It let out a squeal of delight before waving its arms towards him, clicking and whirling in excitement before he looked up at Carnage again. He squeaked softly before nuzzling her affectionately, making her chuckle before licking it head, earning a soft squawk of protest before it settled down with a huff.

She purred before nuzzling it gently, ignoring Skywarp's snicker somewhere to her left. She felt Starscream's head pressed against hers and shot him a glance, letting him know full well that this did not mean they were partners anywhere beyond he was her chauffer. He smirked at her before purring into her audio, only to get smacked over the head by her tail blade in annoyance while the hatchling laughed. She smiled down at it before she tilted her head.

"It needs a name," she commented before nuzzling it and making it squeal again.

"_He_ will be called Thrust," Starscream replied before stroking his son's head.

"Thrust…cute," she commented before nuzzling him.

Thrust chirped his agreement before looking up at her curiously and pawed as the feeding tube. She gave Starscream a worried look before he gently reached out and pinched off the end connected to Thrust, making the tube curl back up into her abdomen, letting Thrust crawl onto his chest before his own feeding tube uncurled to attach to the hatchling. Thrust let out a gurgled purr before snuggling against Starscream's chest, hooking his claws under the armored platting as his "mother" hopped onto his "father's" shoulders to get a better look.

"Definitely cleaner than breast feeding," she commented before she perked her ears at the sound of desperate clicking.

She looked up and noticed that Thundercracker was trying to make the hatchling on his shoulder calm down. The little blue mech was pointing at her and making grabbing motions with his hands, red optics huge as the large blue Seeker kept telling him no. Skywarp seemed to be having a similar problem with the white hatchling he had with him. They both were making grabbing motions for her, whirling and clicking while their red optics seemed to grow wider and wider.

"'Avage!" the white hatchling squealed. "'Avage!"

"'Avage'?" she asked.

"Ravage," Thundercracker replied before he managed to pin the hatchling's arms down. "No, Dirge, that's not Ravage."

Both hatchlings looked at him like he was insane before they continued with their pleas. She flicked her tail thoughtfully before she clambered down Starscream's body to sit on the ground, staring up at the hatchlings passively as they followed her. She nodded to the two hesitant Seekers before they placed the hatchlings on the ground as well. She was surprised at the speed the two tiny mechs had, almost getting knocked onto her back as they launched themselves onto her. They pulled on her ears and tail while clicking and whirling in excitement, not noticing that she was making pained expressions throughout the process.

Without even thinking about how the two Seekers would react to the action, she flipped both hatchlings onto their backs and held them down, her ears folded down in annoyance as sparks flew from where they had been ripped out slightly. The two hatchlings squealed in fright and wiggled desperately, their red optics flying to her as if they had not seen the treatment coming. She let out a low hiss before giving them both a sharp nip on their scruffs, earning a squeal of surprise before she released them. They both darted back to the Seekers and stared around their legs at her as if she was the single most terrifying thing they had ever face in their lives.

Her tail twitched back and forth several times before she turned and walked back over to Starscream, crouching down to get a good leap onto his leg. Just before she could actually jump, she was tackled to the ground by a pair of squealing hatchlings, making her yowl in surprise. She rolled over and stared at the two hatchlings sitting on her chest, smirking down at her while Thundercracker and Skywarp exchanged an amused grin. She snorted before sitting up, making the two hatchlings tumble into her lap with a squeal, and gave them both stern looks before giving their helms affectionate pats.

"Definitely tell who gave you their specs," she commented.

"Da!" the white one chirped before pointing at Skywarp.

"Da!" the blue one agreed, pointing at Thundercracker.

She laughed before nuzzling them both. "Oh, I get it now!" she purred before she began to tickle them until they tried to wiggle away.

"Go easy on 'em, Carnage!" Skywarp laughed before he bent down to scoop his hatchling up and nuzzle affectionately. "Little Ramjet can't take that much torture…in one sitting!"

Ramjet nodded his head before smirking at her and sticking his glossa out at Dirge as he continued to squirm to get away. Thundercracker took pity on his hatchling and easily plucked him out of her arms and cradled him against his chest. The little blue hatchling squeaked before looking at her with adoration in his red optics and let out a low coo that made the mechs look at each other in surprise.

"What?" she asked.

"It looks like Starscream's hatchling isn't the only one to claim you as its other creator," Megatron commented.

"Huh?"

"Dirge just called you 'momma'," Thundercracker stated as he scratched the hatchling's cheek. "It seems they like you best out of the few femmes they've met."

"Does it work like that?" she asked nervously, glancing at Soundwave; she didn't think she could be a good mother to three tiny hatchlings.

"With hatchlings, they choose their creators based on how attached they grow to them in a short amount of time," Soundwave replied. "Since they are created based on specs taken from different mechs or femmes, they have no real connection to anyone until they are hatched."

"Weird," she commented before tilting her head and frowning. "I…don't know if I could handle this kind of responsibility." She admitted before standing up and planting her hands on her hips. "I had better get child support from you three!"

They all chuckled before shaking their heads, not really believing that she had just said that. She flicked her tail behind her before looking around at the other unborn hatchlings. What was going to happen now? Where were they going to go to find enough energon to keep the hatchlings online long enough to even make a dent in the reconstruction of Cybertron and its inhabitants? As if sensing her thoughts, Soundwave's hand wrapped around her stomach and he hoisted her up onto his shoulder, letting her stretch out comfortably as the others moved off into the gloom.

"What's going to happen now?" she asked.

"We're moving everything to Earth," Soundwave replied. "We might not be able to harvest the energy from the sun, but Earth is an energy-rich planet. We can hopefully find a place to let the hatchlings grow without Autobot interference."

"But we're going back to Earth…to an Autobot infested Earth," she replied before shaking her head. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Megatron is counting on the fact that Optimus values young life more than any other to keep our hatchlings safe," he replied. "And, we do have some help in the Autobot ranks; Prowl owes you one for protecting and finding Valerie when she was injured."

"He'd use it to keep our secret safe?" she asked.

"We can only hope that he will," he replied before he opened his chest plate for her to climb into. "We can only hope."

**Author's Note:** Yeah for a short chapter. There might be one more, maybe two, depending on how long the next one runs. Valerie and Bluestreak…in one body? Where do I come up with these things…? Yeah, you can guess what's going to happen next. And Carnage is a mommy!...to the Seeker hatchlings! Dirge, Ramjet, and Thrust….is it any wonder they have issues? Yeah, leave a review before you leave please; I crave these things like chocolate.


	13. Ice Haven

Chapter 13 Ice Haven

He couldn't believe how quickly two years had passed by yet again. So much had changed in the time after they lost both The Fallen and the Solar Harvester, not that he really was complaining, mind. He didn't like that they were forced into hiding again, but it was something that the Decepticons were so use to that it didn't really bother them anymore. It was making Carnage a little antsy, but she just wasn't use to being cooped up for so long. Nor was she use to having three highly dependent hatchlings under her care, but she was adapting well enough.

She had grown another two feet in the past couple of years, making her tower over her charges and be a little less coordinated than usual. But it also made it easier for her to use her size to instrument her authority. The hatchlings were use to having large mechs telling them what to do so she was at a disadvantage being so close to their height. Now that she was a good four feet taller than them, they were less of a handful for her, not that they ever stopped being trouble. It helped that they had their "fathers" helping out too; not that Thrust seemed to care which one told him what to do as long as he could still run around without hindrance.

Their current location was popular with the hatchlings, even if they were complaining about the cold every few days. Starscream had personally hollowed out the glacier for them to use and he made sure that there was no way for the Autobots to reach them. Most of the other Decepticons refused to stay with them and went farther south, using the ocean as a cover, while they were left alone to their own devices. The hatchlings enjoyed the solitude, chasing each other around the huge cavern while their guardians watched on or collected energon from solar panels hidden just below the ice.

The hatchlings were stronger than the others that had been taken under the sea. They had a steady supply of energon to fuel their growth and plenty of room to play and strengthen their bodies. They were far more protected as well; they had never had a run in with the Autobots yet. Rumors that some of the hatchlings were being shipped up there to be better protected had started circulating the Decepticon com link frequency; the Autobots had already stolen a handful of hatchlings to raise, not caring about the affect it would have on the little ones to be so far away from their creators.

When they had heard the news of the stolen hatchlings, Carnage went into a fit of protectiveness and wouldn't let anyone near her hatchlings. She even tried to claw Skywarp's hand off when he tried to pick up Ramjet, making the hatchlings cower in terror. It had taken all of them working together to get her to relent her over-protective bout, even with the hatchlings' help. They used it as black-mail now, just to watch the young femme get flustered and thrash her tail around in frustration.

"Hey, dad," Carnage called, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You ok?"

He nodded before she hopped up onto his lap and smirked up at him as Frenzy and Rumble raced past with the hatchlings right behind them. He stroked down her back as she curled up, her tail draped lazily over his knee as she watched her brood race around after her brothers. He caressed her mind and smirked as Ravage momentarily separated to nuzzle against his before fading back into the collective consciousness that had become Carnage. Caraden momentarily looked back at him, brown eyes shimmering in humor before Ravage settled down against her and the merged together again. He pulled back from the depth of her mind and watched as the hatchlings paused from their tickling of their uncles, heads turned towards the entrance to the cavern.

"Father!" Dirge shouted, the first one to fully master English, before he raced forward to greet Thundercracker.

The blue Seeker smirked before swooping down to scoop his hatchling up, nuzzling him gently while emitting soft whirs. Starscream and Skywarp filed in behind him, smirking at the affection openly displayed between the mech and his hatchling, before they scooped their own hatchlings up. The little mechs started squeaking and clicking in a dialect known only to sparklings, relating everything that happened to them during the day while the Elite Trine was out on patrols. Carnage stretched herself out before leaping lightly onto the ground, her tail curling in amusement as she stood up and planted a fist on her hip.

"So, how was the patrol?" she asked. "Must be nice to go out and frolic in the snow, right?"

"We did not frolic in the snow," Starscream growled.

"Then explain why Skywarp smells like water and ice," she challenged, her tail slicing through the air.

He chuckled to himself as Skywarp looked away in embarrassment. Carnage's ability to control her body had improved immensely while she had been raising the hatchlings. The need to keep track of everything they did had forced her to sharpen her senses. They would never be as good as Ravage's had been, but they were adequate for what she was doing.

"I crashed," Skywarp grumbled, earning a snicker from Ramjet. "What are you laughing at?" he demanded before he started nipping at Ramjet's arm. "Eh? Who's laughing now?"

The hatchling squealed before squirming to get away. Everyone chuckled at the display, before Carnage's ears perked up and she let out a snarl. Her tail snapped over her head before she dropped onto all fours, her back arching in fury as her hip-guns whirled to life, pointing directly behind Starscream. The Seekers spun around with their Vulcan cannons fully formed, ready to fire on whoever dared to enter their sanctuary. Rumble and Frenzy leapt forward beside Carnage, guns out and shurikens ready to fly before Carnage stilled beside them. She took a sniff of the air before purring in amusement and settling down, her head tilted to the side as a dark figure appeared in the passage way leading up to the exposed Arctic tundra.

"Fancy meeting you here, Barricade," she purred as the mech stepped into the cavern, his red optics narrowed as he took in the guns pointed at him. "Didn't you say that the cold was the last place you wanted to be?"

The shock trooper glared at her before snorting and shifting something closer to his chest. "I don't have much choice in the matter," he replied before the Seekers took a curious step closer at the sound of a weak chirp. "Megatron can't collect enough energon to support all of our hatchlings."

Soundwave rose to his feet as Carnage sat up straight and gawked at the little hatchling that Barricade was holding tightly to his chest. Its optics were offlined and it kept twitching weakly, the same way an adult would from energon deprivation. Starscream set Thrust on the ground before he took off to where the energon was stored, digging for the proper sized dosage for the hatchling. Barricade took a step backwards as the other two Seekers moved to get around him, their optics narrowed in worry as they started to herd him to the center of the cavern.

"Do you have a feeding tube?" Thundercracker asked.

"No," Barricade replied. "Took a shot to the chest at Tyger Pax and it got blown off. Never saw the point in getting a new one."

"Hand the hatchling to Carnage then," Skywarp instructed. "She's the only one small enough to hold it without harming it."

"He, it's a he," Barricade grumbled before eyeing Carnage as she leapt over to him and held her arms out expectantly.

He ground his jaws together before setting the hatchling down in her arms, wincing as it squeaked in protest. Carnage sat down and cradled the hatchling to her chest, hushing it as she let out a gentle spark-song to sooth it more. Thrust let out a squawk of protest, obviously not in agreement over her choice of action; she usually kept her spark-song for him alone so he could recharge at night. The hatchling paused before settling against her chassis, clicking softly as it tried to listen to the melody that her spark was singing for him. Starscream handed the cube of energon to her and she downed it quickly, the feeding tube unrolling itself from her abdomen and connecting through the thin plating of the hatchling's stomach to reach his fuel tank.

The hatchling let out a squeal of protest, wiggling slightly at the unfamiliar feeling before settling down with a purr as the energon started to flow into him. Carnage smiled before setting the cube down and holding the hatchling closer to her, folding her legs up neatly underneath his backside to hold him up. Barricade seemed to relax greatly at the sound of the purring coming from his hatchling and promptly collapsed on the ground. Starscream joked about the need of another feeding tube before going and getting another energon cube for the exhausted mech. He thanked him weakly before chugging it, his optics never leaving Carnage and his hatchling before Frenzy tackled him and started chittering nonstop. He smirked before answering the spastic mech in Cybertronian, flicking his head gently before scratching his neck.

Carnage pet the hatchling's head before he let out a long yawn and rubbed at his optics. "Cade," he squeaked before reaching for Barricade.

Barricade reached out and gripped his middle tightly, waiting for Carnage to remove the feeding tube, before he pulled the hatchling closer to his chest. Carnage smiled fondly at them before she tilted her head curiously as her feeding tube curled back into her abdomen.

"He's not your hatchling, is he?" she asked before looking at Thrust as he sat on his father's arm. "These hatchlings call their respective guardians 'father'; he just called you 'Cade'."

"You're sharp," Barricade grunted before nodding. "Smokescreen wasn't made from my tech specs, but rather my creators. He's technically my brother."

"And Prowl's," Soundwave commented. "Does he know?"

"Prowl knows about him, yes, but he hasn't made any demands to take him away from me," Barricade replied.

"Prowl's still looking after Valerie," Carnage commented, her tail swishing behind her. "I don't think he wants to look after a squishy human and a hatchling."

Barricade nodded his agreement before looking down at Smokescreen and running his finger over his helm. Smokescreen yawned before curling against his chassis, a soft whirl of contentment escaping into the cold cavern. Carnage smirked before she turned and leapt over to Soundwave, crawling up onto his shoulder to snuggle against him as the temperature started to drop drastically as the sun sank below the horizon; since it was spring, the sun still set at night. The Seekers settled down into their corner of the cavern, the three hatchlings snuggled against their chassis to keep warm.

Soundwave beckoned Barricade over before pulling him close to his side. "It gets really cold at night," he explained as Barricade made a weak attempt to get away.

"You were in space for almost a year," Barricade snorted.

"True, but I was better protected," he replied with a soft chuckle before settling down for recharge.

Barricade let out another snort before settling against the larger mech's hip, his optics already powered down. Smokescreen was tucked away under his arm, only a small pair of wing-like appendages poking out of his back exposed to the cooling air. Carnage let out a long yawn before she curled up into a tight ball and fit herself comfortably between a set of plating on his back, keeping as close to his warm body as she could. Frenzy and Rumble returned to his chest compartment with shouts of good night before the cavern was filled with the sound of regulated intakes of air.

The sound of heavy, echoing footsteps overhead snapped him out of a deep recharge. Carnage let out a startled hiss in his audio before she was on his shoulder staring up at the ice roof over their head. He looked up and watched dark silhouettes of humans walk overhead, not even realizing that they could, at any moment, fall through the ice to their doom. The Seekers were all up, their hatchlings on the ground behind them in a tight bundle, and weapons out, their optics focused on the ceiling. Carnage leapt onto the ground and snapped her tail around nervously, crouching on all fours as she stared at the ceiling.

Soundwave's internal dampeners were running full-force to block their energy signatures from leaking out. He could sense Autobots nearby, not close enough to the roof or entrance, but close enough to cause trouble should their cavern be detected. Barricade had shuffled farther to the left and had his gun out, ready for a fight with Smokescreen tucked securely away in a holding compartment on his chest. Carnage was making slow progress towards the bundle of hatchlings, moving as slowly as she could to avoid catching any human's attention.

Starscream twitched as a loud crack sounded around the cavern. They all snapped their heads to one point far above their heads and their breaths stilled. A long crack had appeared on the ceiling, unnoticed by the humans above, who kept coming in a steady stream. Many were shivering from the cold, their misty breaths puffing out like smoke in the cold climate, and trudging along with huge bags strapped to them. They were decked out in mostly green, obviously some kind of military operation, and many were holding guns, throwing glances around at everything.

The crack continued to grow as the stream of people kept coming, all walking in the same straight line. They must have thought that since no one was falling through that it was safe; they didn't know that they were making the ice break underneath them. A deafening boom echoed around the cavern, making them all hit the ground like they had been fired on, before a huge hole opened up in the ice. A loud scream resonated around as a small human body plummeted for the ground, surrounded by huge chunks of ice. Carnage shrank back in horror as a dull thud whispered out under the shattering of ice.

The hatchlings let out terrified chirps before Starscream silenced them with a low hiss. Cold air rushed into the cavern, swirling the fur hood on the body of the human, but it was ultimately too dark to even let the humans see down. They let out incomprehensible shouts before moving on, knowing full well that their companion was dead. A thick pool of blood was forming around the body and they all stared at the dark red liquid in morbid fascination.

"Why's it red?" Ramjet asked quietly.

"Human blood is red," Skywarp stated softly, reaching back to stroke his hatchling's head.

"Weird."

Carnage crept closer to the body, red optics narrowed in concentration before she took a quick sniff of the body. She frowned for a moment before her optics widened and she took a half-step backwards. They watched her as she leant forward and sniffed at the hood again, ruffling the fur lining slightly, before the human's arm twitched. She leapt back again, her tail snapping up over her head in preparation for attack, and she bared her fangs as the human twitched again. There was a lengthy groan before the human sat up, sending everyone but Carnage scrambling backwards in shock.

The human looked around curiously until it caught sight of Carnage staring at it with murder in her optics. It let out a soft gasp before slowly standing up, blood dripping off the dark green parka with a soft dripping noise and landing with a sticky _plunk_ on the ground. It raised a hand towards Carnage before taking a step forward, setting its feet delicately in front of the other.

"Caraden?" a female voice asked.

"Hello, Bluestreak," Carnage replied coldly, her optics hardening. "I see you took your advantage the moment Valerie died."

"Caraden?" the female asked. "What are you talking about? Aren't you happy to see me? It's been two years! Don't you know how worried I've been?"

"Worried enough to brave the Arctic cold to find the hidden Decepticons?" Carnage sneered before flicking her tail. "You aren't fooling me, Autobot scum."

The woman seemed to pause before lowering her hood, revealing Valerie's familiar, confused face. "Caraden, what's wrong with you?" she asked.

Carnage let out a snarl before leaping forward and swiping at Valerie's head, making the young woman duck with a gasp. She landed in the puddle of blood and slipped backwards with a sticky thump, her lip curling in a grimace as she glanced at the dark puddle she was in. Carnage snorted before sticking her nose in the air.

"A really human would be terrified over the fact that they are lying in a pool of their own blood," she stated calmly. "You are not helping yourself, Autobot, by faking everything."

Valerie's mouth twitched for a moment before she shook her head. "Caraden…."

"Do not call me that, Autobot!" Carnage snarled before arching her back. "It's Carnage to you! Only Valerie and Camren were ever allowed to call me that! You have no right to!"

"But I'm," she started to protest.

"You took over my friend's body the moment she died!" Carnage snarled, her whole body trembling with rage. "You didn't care for her anymore than you care for a Decepticon! You just wanted a host because you knew sooner or later that she would die because of her involvement in the Cybertronian war. It was just ten times better to have taken the body of the girl under your older brother's care!"

Valerie seemed to shy away at Carnage's snarl, her lip trembling as if she was about to say something. Carnage let out another snarl before bringing her claws down on the woman's face. She screamed in pain and launched herself away from Carnage, holding her face as blue fluid oozed between her fingers. Barricade let out a low hiss as the Seekers moved forward to stand behind Carnage, their optics narrowed in outrage. Valerie glared at them out of her one good eye before shaking her head.

"What difference does it make?" she asked. "No one will know if Valerie died or not if her body is still moving around."

"What difference does it make?" Soundwave asked with a snort. "I would have expected more sympathy from an Autobot."

"I've been sharing this body with Valerie for the past four years; I know what she's like and everything," the Autobot impersonator stated. "No one will ever know!"

"Except Prowl," Carnage stated coldly. "Are you really that thick, Bluestreak? Do you think that Prowl would be fooled? I wouldn't doubt that he knows Valerie is gone."

"Prowl won't know the difference," the impersonator stated nervously. "He's never noticed before if I was talking instead of Valerie."

"You think he's stupid?" Barricade snorted. "You're dumber than I remember, little brother."

Valerie's body shifted nervously before she folded her arms over her chest. "I could make the Autobots come at any moment," she threatened.

"And lead them right to their doom," Starscream concluded before tilting his head. "You don't look quite so realistic now that your inner circuitry is revealed. Does Valerie know about this transformation?"

"She does," Bluestreak replied. "But she's currently recovering."

"Recovering?" Carnage sneered. "Is that what you call it?" She snorted before walking forward to tower over her friend's body, baring her fangs. "Soundwave's hacked into your com link before, Bluestreak; I know that the Autobot sparks that have taken human hosts are not as benevolent as Ravage was with me."

"You're still Caraden?" Bluestreak asked.

"No," she replied before shrugging. "But I'm not Ravage either. We're one in the same. Even our minds are fused together; you wouldn't be able to tell where one ended and the other began."

Bluestreak seemed stunned for a moment before shaking Valerie's head. "But why would a Decepticon let the human live after they died? They shouldn't be tied to a body that is no longer theirs."

"Then shouldn't you have moved onto the Matrix?" Carnage asked before rolling her optics. "I mean really, why would you want to get attached to a weak little flesh body?"

"Unless," Barricade snorted, "they plan on killing the humans and using their bodies as hosts for all of their lost comrades; that could be why they're so keen on keeping this miserable race alive…no offense, Carnage."

"I wouldn't doubt that to be their motives," Starscream snorted before sneering. "I can just see it now; the entire human population kept alive to keep bringing their dead friends back. And you dare to call Decepticons sparkless; at least we let humans and comrades die when their time is up!"

"If that were true, then you wouldn't have brought Megatron back from the dead!" Bluestreak snapped.

"Trust me, I wish we had," Starscream snarled.

"Agreed," Soundwave grumbled before snorting. "He has only brought trouble to us. When he renewed the war between the factions, he left any chance of us slowly rebuilding our numbers behind. Now, we will be lucky if any hatchlings survive."

"You mean we're gunna die?!" Ramjet squealed.

"Not while I'm still online!" Carnage stated before stamping her foot. "Come hell or high water, I'll make sure you all survive if I have to sacrifice myself to ensure it!"

"I wish you wouldn't say that," Barricade grumbled. "Every time you make a proclamation like that, something bad happens."

She laughed at him before turning to look at the Autobot using Valerie's body. She had drawn herself up a bit, the exposed wiring in her face still dripping fluid onto the collar of her parka. Her one brown eye was narrowed in confusion, almost as if she couldn't understand why Carnage would care so much for the hatchlings. Carnage snorted before crossing her arms and giving Valerie's body a malignant stare.

"Tell me, what's going to happen to Miles, Sam, and Mikaela when they die? Will the Autobots that infested them take over?" she asked bitterly. "And Leo, will he escape this punishment?"

"This isn't punishment," she argued.

"Bluestreak, being trapped in your body and not able to control it is a punishment," Carnage replied sharply. "I can't believe that Autobots would be this dense! What about that 'freedom is the right of all sentient being' crap that Optimus is always spewing?"

Bluestreak seemed flustered by her constant questions and in that time something else seemed to grip hold of the body and the hands flew for the throat, causing her to gasp in surprise. The face twisted into a pained expression before Valerie's voice became higher and infuriated.

"YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU! YOU SAID WE'D SHARE THE BODY!" Valerie screamed. "YOU PROMISED ME! WHY WOULD YOU LIE?!"

They all took a step back in shock as the young woman continued to try to strangle herself, her brown eyes alive with fury. Carnage smirked before leaning over and gently prying her hands off from around her throat, purring in amusement before she hugged the human. The young woman let out a soft sigh before hugging her back, hiding her face in Carnage's shoulder as she shivered from the cold. They leant forward as they pulled apart, the human once again in control of her body.

"God, I didn't think he'd do that," she murmured. "Blue always seemed like such a sweetheart…I don't understand why he would do this."

"Because he's got a bad case of cabin fever," Barricade snorted. "Would you like being locked up in a body for years without being able to move on your own?"

"I didn't like sitting there helplessly for five minutes," Valerie grumbled before she got a quick look at the hatchlings as they poked their heads around their guardians' feet. "Aww, they're so cute!"

Carnage purred her agreement before beckoning the three hatchlings to her, nuzzling them affectionately as they darted over to hide behind her. They blinked curiously at Valerie as she stared up at them, all of them; even tiny Thrust; standing almost two feet taller than her. Dirge reached out and poked her, recoiling in shock as she gasped in pain and covered her midsection. Carnage gently scolded him before telling them to be gentle, showing them that Valerie was not as strong as the rest of them by giving her side a soft poke that made her squeal. Ramjet giggled before taking a step forward to poke Valerie, smiling widely as she backed up to avoid his claws. Dirge stepped up beside him and tried to poke her from the other side, making her back up even more with a desperate look at Carnage. Carnage merely smirked before holding up a finger to tell her to wait and Thrust appeared in front of her, growling up at the larger hatchlings as he stood protectively in front of her.

Ramjet and Dirge stared at him like he was crazy before looking at each other in confusion. They let out chirps, motioning with their hands as they tried to understand why he was acting the way he was. Thrust let out a purr before hugging Valerie around the middle and nuzzling his face into her chest, his wing nubs twitching as she pet his head nervously. Carnage chuckled as the mechs behind them settled down and Barricade let Smokescreen come out of his compartment to stare at the human that was currently being mobbed by the three hyper and curious hatchlings.

On unsteady legs, Smokescreen tottered over to Valerie, squeaking softly up at her and making the other three hatchlings draw away with worried looks. They scampered back to Carnage and watched as Valerie caught the hatchling as he tripped and fell. She stroked his head gently before he snuggled in close and rested his face on her chest, cooing and clicking as he gazed up at her out of dark red optics. Valerie smiled before nodding and cooing back, settling down cross-legged on the ground so that the weak hatchling could curl up in her lap. Barricade hovered protectively nearby, his red optics hard as he snarled threateningly at Valerie, as if he expected her to do something horrible to the little mech, but she didn't see the display of aggression, too wrapped up in cuddling the quiet sparkling to her.

"They're so cute," she murmured before kissing Smokescreen's cheek and making him squeal. "What's his name?"

"Smokescreen," Barricade growled before a beam of light cut through the semi-darkness and illuminated the armor on his back. "About time."

The flashlight beam moved around the cavern before a long line of rope fell and dangled just above the ground. Carnage let out a soft snarl before she gathered her hatchlings under her and flicked her tail over her head, lowering her front to the ground as her hip cannons whirled to life. A single human dressed in a dark green parka slid down the rope, stumbling around in the dark with several curses before the flashlight beam landed on Carnage's face. It let out a squawk of shock that echoed around the cavern before it put its hand over its chest and let out a lengthy sigh.

"Geez, Caraden! Do you have to look like you're about to eat me?" Camren demanded, flipping his hood down and shaking his graying hair.

"Camren?" she asked, straightening up to get a better look at him. "What the slag are you doing up here?!"

"I heard that Soundwave was stationed up here with some runaway Decepticons and figured that I'd find you up here too," he replied before looking at Valerie and frowning. "Prowl's not impressed with Bluestreak, don't you worry about a thing, Val."

Valerie nodded slowly, glancing at the Decepticons as they shifted around defensively. Soundwave took a half-step towards Carnage, thought better of it, and looked up at the roof. He could see some Cybertronians moving around up there and knew they were coming down to keep an optic on Camren. Carnage made a small movement with her tail before she prowled forward to lean her head against Camren's, purring in delight before she wound herself around him, her red optics bright with happiness. The hatchlings chirped curiously at her but remained where they were; their fathers' stiff frames were enough of a hint that the human wasn't their only guest.

Carnage was just circling Camren again when Prowl dropped in, landing lightly on his feet in spite of the long drop. Carnage bolted, accidentally sending Camren to the ground with a grunt, and raced to the hatchlings, snarling viciously as the Autobot rose to his full height. Prowl looked at her for a moment before taking a step back, casting Barricade a casual look, before he edged his way over to Soundwave.

"She's defensive of her brood," he commented. "You've trained her well."

Soundwave nodded, signaling for Carnage to calm down as another mech dropped in. A loud groan met them before one of the twins; Mudflap and Skids since Sunstreaker and Sideswipe could not be trusted near Decepticons and their hatchlings; sat up and started complaining. Prowl glanced at him as the small mech got to his feet and dusted himself off, shouting at the hole in the roof for someone to follow. The Seekers were starting to panic now, emitting loud bellows and stepping around the small area, their optics wide in fear. Another mech hopped down and made his way over to Prowl, blue optics blinking nervously before he wrapped his arms around Prowl's, looking at the Seekers.

"They'll kill us, Prowl," the mech whispered, making Soundwave jump in shock; it was a femme.

"Just don't make any move towards the hatchlings and they will not attack," Prowl stated gently before stroking the small femme's helm. "They're being protective, nothing more."

"Alright, Prowl," the femme whispered before moving closer to him, silver armor trembling in fear.

Soundwave looked at the small femme closely, noticing the feathery horns on either side of the femme's helm before Carnage's infuriated hiss caught his attention. He looked over and had to fight with himself not to bolt forward and rip the green twin to pieces; he was making slow advances towards Carnage, stepping from side to side as if he were trying to fake her out. The Seekers were bristling, wanting to fire at the Autobot but obviously afraid to shoot in case they either made the cavern collapse or they shot the hatchlings by mistake. Prowl gave the order for the mech to get back, but all he got was a sneer. Apparently, he was under orders to take any hatchling they come across back to base.

"Skids, now is not the time for that," Prowl growled. "Do not provoke an attack."

"They ain't gunna shoot," Skids retorted, waving a hand at the Seekers. "They's a buncha pussies."

"The term's 'pussycat', asshole!" Carnage snarled before leaping forward, deciding that Skids was too close to the hatchlings for comfort.

Skids let out a cry of shock before he was pinned to the ground by Carnage. He grabbed her leg and reefed on it, yelling profanity as she screeched in pain. She slammed her fists into his face several times, a feral yowl leaving her, her optics flaring in fury as she lashed her tail around. The hatchlings let out squeaks of fear before darting to where their fathers were crouching to the ground, hiding behind their legs as their mother fought. Prowl gave Soundwave a desperate look, knowing that Carnage was running on instincts fuelled by her cat side rather than as a Decepticon, and with a snort, he moved forward.

He clamped his hand down on Carnage's neck and yanked her off. One of her claws scored a mark on his arm and he winced at the pain that flared up but did not release his hold. Prowl moved forward and grabbed Skids by the scruff before he had a chance to move, growling about disobeying orders and having a talk with Optimus about it. Carnage's flailing stopped as she realized that her opponent was gone and she dangled from his hand for a moment before she let out a desperate mew and wiggled to get away.

He dropped her onto the ground and she streaked off to where the hatchlings were squeaking in fear. She gathered them around her and gave each of them brisk licks, cat instincts taking over as the "Ravage" part of her persona gained more control. The hatchlings started to click in protest, most of the fear gone now that their mother was doing something familiar. Skids whined loudly about being treated unfairly and the small silver femme walked over and cuffed him over the head.

"Stop being such an ass, Skids," she snapped, hands on her hips. "Don't you know anything?"

"Wha'chu talking about? I didn't do nothin wrong and that crazy cat just jumped me!"

"You were trying to get at the hatchlings," the femme replied before shaking her head. "Femmes are extremely defensive of their sparklings or hatchlings and will kill anyone that tries to get them."

Skids let out another whine before Valerie stepped out from where she had been hiding with Smokescreen behind Barricade's leg. Prowl dropped him on the ground and swooped down to pick up his charge, running his thumb over the torn flesh and inner circuitry. Carnage glanced over and her tail twitched nervously, but Prowl said nothing as he looked for any other damage, peeling away the blood-soaked parka in spite of Valerie's protests. A set of grey appendages sprang up from where the parka had held them down, making Valerie yelp in surprise, her eyes wide as she stared at them.

"Bluestreak made sure to get rid of any traces of internal organs," Prowl murmured sadly. "He was not as kind as Ravage was to your body, Caraden."

Carnage's tail stuck straight up in the air as her optics widened. "You knew?" she squeaked.

"Soundwave told me when you dropped Camren off all those years ago; he obviously had more faith in my judgment than you or Valerie did," he replied gently.

Carnage's tail hit the ground with a clang and she bowed her head in shame. Prowl chuckled before going back to examining Valerie, muttering about having a talk with Bluestreak about etiquette, before he paused and looked down. The silver femme had rested a hand on his arm and was looking at Valerie curiously, her head tilted to the side. Valerie waved at her, her mouth set in a hard line, and the femme's horns drooped slightly.

"Val, why are you so bitter towards me?" she asked quietly.

"You know why, you body snatching bitch," Valerie snapped.

"You think I wanted this?" the femme asked, shaking her head. "You think I wanted her to die? You think I wanted Maggie to die?"

"You didn't care!" Valerie snarled, getting to her feet on Prowl's hand. "You did the exact same thing that Bluestreak did and took over! You're the reason he did this!"

"I never intended for her to die!" the femme snarled, her horns snapping up. "I tried to save her! And she was alive, for ten whole minutes after the transformation!" She dropped her face into her hands and let out a shaky sob. "Ten minutes! For ten minutes she was in control and I was merely standing by, ready to help her control the body. Then she was gone! Gone! You don't even know how it felt! You could NEVER know!"

"Jazz," Prowl whispered gently before resting his other hand on her shoulder. "Hush, it's okay."

Jazz snuggled against Prowl's side, tears sliding down her face to land in a pool of fluid on the ground. Valerie's eyes narrowed in anger before it ebbed away and she reached out to pat Jazz's head, murmuring an apology. Jazz smiled before stroking her head, her optics suddenly going wide as Valerie's body quivered. There was a long moment of silence before Valerie's body tore itself open, revealing grey protoform armor underneath the human flesh and bright blue optics that zoomed into focus before she let out a shriek of fear and tumbled backwards out of Prowl's grip.

"What happened?!" Valerie screeched, tearing at her chest plate in blind fear as she lay on the ground.

"Calm down, Valerie," Prowl stated gently before he picked her up and cradled her to his chest. "Hush, it's okay."

"Looks like Bluestreak delayed the transformation somehow," Carnage muttered.

"Why?" Valerie demanded.

"He wished to fool us into thinking he was still human," Soundwave stated before taking a step forward. "He was sent into temporary paralysis when Valerie forced her way back into command and was only able to regain control after her outburst on Jazz. By the way, it is…good, I suppose, to have you back with us."

"Oh shut up, big blue, you know you missed me," Jazz laughed before wagging her finger at him. "You know you couldn't get on without your baby bro…er, sister."

"Wait…I have another uncle?" Carnage demanded before shaking her head. "I mean aunt?"

Jazz smiled before nodding. "So, looks like Ravage did the same thing I did," she replied before tilting her head to the side. "It's weird, isn't it, sharing with him?"

Carnage shook her head. "Not anymore; we've fused into one being now. The name's Carnage," she stated calmly before flicking her tail.

Jazz tilted her head before smiling sadly. "I wonder…what name we would have come up with if Maggie had survived," she murmured.

Soundwave rested a hand on Jazz's hand before turning to look at Valerie. She was examining herself curiously, comparing certain aspects to both Prowl and Barricade in amusement. Smokescreen was clapping his hands in delight, squeaking and chirping as he pointed at various parts of her. When she started to do a more detailed inspection of her chassis, he looked away quickly, coughing as the other mechs did the same, uneasiness written on their faces. Carnage and Jazz exchanged amused looks before Valerie asked what the tube in under her chest was.

"A feeding tube," Carnage replied as Valerie examined the hollow tube that she had unraveled from her abdomen. "It's sort of like breast feeding, only a lot less messy."

Valerie let out a noise of understanding before she frowned and looked down at the ground. She gave Prowl a pointed look and he set her down, his hand staying near her back as all seven feet of her wobbled unsteadily. She took a few steps forward experimentally before she took off running, zipping around Barricade and Smokescreen before racing over to Carnage. Carnage smirked before springing up, making Valerie vault over her, before letting her race on. The hatchlings squealed in delight, trotting after her as she raced around the Seekers' legs. Thundercracker smirked after her as she dodged around Starscream's foot and shot up Skywarp's leg before leaping back onto the ground.

She let out a laugh before trotting back over to Prowl, the appendages on her back twitching. Prowl smirked down at her while Jazz brought her hand down to hive-five. Skids grumbled something about Decepticons and Soundwave promptly gave him a glare that silenced him. Carnage laughed as she watched Starscream stomp around like a sparkling, throwing her friend an amused glance before rounding up the hatchlings and settling down as they snuggled against her. Jazz's optics filled with sadness at the sight before she sighed.

"What are we suppose to tell Optimus?" she asked as she looked at Prowl. "We came up here to find the hiding Decepticons and take the hatchlings away. How are we going to explain that they aren't a threat to anyone if left alone?"

Prowl frowned before looking at Soundwave. "Would you be willing to have an audience with him?" he asked. "I can get him here now to settle everything."

Soundwave nodded. "Make him swear to not touch any of the hatchlings," he replied. "Only if he complies with that request will I allow him to enter."

Prowl nodded before activating his com link and talking with his leader. Starscream let out a hiss about a usurper but Thundercracker silenced him with a single look. Carnage wrapped her tail protectively around the hatchlings, digging at the ice in front of her nervously. Valerie was sitting on Jazz's shoulders, tilting her head at Prowl as he turned to Soundwave and nodded his head, confirming that Prime was willing to meet the requirements. With that, Prowl gave Prime the coordinates and the only thing to do was to sit down and wait.

They didn't have to wait long. Optimus had figured that they had gone to retrieve Valerie's body and had headed out to find them when they did not return immediately. Carnage raised her hackles threateningly as Prime and Ironhide landed on the floor of the cavern, their blue optics landing on her immediately and then on the hatchlings she was protecting. Ratchet landed next and gave her one look before pulling something out of his arm and walking over. He bent down next to the hatchlings and almost had his face clawed off as she went into a defensive crouch over them, her tail poised like a scorpion's over her head.

"Calm down, miss," Ratchet stated gently. "I'm checking the hatchlings for any aliments."

"Are you suggesting that we cannot look after our hatchlings?" Starscream demanded.

"Even the most careful creator can have sick hatchlings, Starscream," the medic replied before scanning the three of them as Carnage reluctantly stepped back. "But these three are in good health; not surprising since they have such a diligent protector."

"Flattery won't get you any closer to them," she replied coldly before the hatchlings hid behind her. "They are mine and they are not leaving, is that understood?"

Ratchet smiled gently before nodding and backing up. He spotted Smokescreen next and walked over to scan him, giving Barricade one warning look. Obviously, he was less polite to the mech creators of sparklings than he was to the femme creators. He scanned Smokescreen and frowned at the results, shooting Barricade a withering look before walking over to Optimus to share the results. Barricade snatched Smokescreen up and held him close to his chest as Optimus gave him a dark look, his optics narrowing in disgust.

"You've been starving him," the large mech stated coldly.

"Not much you can do when the whole base is starving," Barricade snapped.

"Explain how those three are healthy and this one is almost dying," Ironhide demanded.

"I think you know the answer to that one," Carnage stated calmly as she flicked her tail. "After all, aren't you the one preventing the Decepticons from collecting energy to feed the many mouths we have?"

Optimus gave her a long look before shaking his head. "You're still young," he replied. "You do not know the grave situation."

"I know it well enough, thank you," she replied with a snort. "You Autobots are so arrogant that you would rather defend another species than your own."

"Freedom is the right of all…," Optimus started to respond before she cut him off.

"If you held that saying to heart, you wouldn't hate the Decepticons," she stated coldly. "We're sentient beings too."

Ironhide snorted before taking a step forward. "Decepticons are nothing but murderers," he growled.

"Are you any better?" she asked in response. "I do recall you killing many Decepticons over your career. Should you have any more rights than I?"

Ironhide paused before looking at Optimus for instructions. The Autobot leader gave her a hard look before a rope dropped from the roof and several humans slid down, their breaths coming in short puffs of white clouds. Carnage let out a gasp before backing up, her hip guns whirling to life as she spotted the semi-automatics clutched in their grip. The hatchlings clicked and followed her, their optics bright with fear as they took in the humans forming a line in front of the Autobots.

Valerie was hidden from sight behind Jazz's shoulders as the silver femme hid behind Prowl. The tactician was silent during the whole thing, his optics cold as he stood his ground between the two factions. Soundwave gave him a fleeting look before looking at Prime and folding his arms neatly behind his back.

"Just because you have brought humans does not mean you are at an advantage," he stated calmly, motioning towards Carnage. "She might have sympathy for them, Optimus, but she will kill them if it means defending her brood."

"Wait, you mean to tell me that they're all hers?" one of the humans asked, tipping his head back to look up at Soundwave. "As in all three of them?"

"They chose her as their femme creator, so yes, they are all hers," Soundwave replied.

"So…you guys choose your parents?" another human asked.

"No," Prowl replied. "Only hatchlings do. They are not made by the normal means of reproduction amongst our kind and therefore have no real creators. As such, they choose who will raise them based on simple facts; who was the first person they saw, who resembles them the most, or who does their spark react positively with."

The humans let out murmurs of amazement before Optimus cleared his voice. Starscream moved forward to stand beside Soundwave, wanting to assert his dominance over the situation even though Soundwave was obviously the one in charge. Thundercracker and Skywarp took defensive positions around Carnage as Barricade moved over to them, Smokescreen clutched tightly to his chest.

"Soundwave, you know that we cannot allow the hatchlings to remain in Decepticon care," Optimus stated calmly. "Your kind is just not programmed for kindness."

"Yet we seem to have the better behaved hatchlings," Starscream snapped bitterly.

"This is not a point of behavior, Starscream," Ratchet stated. "This is a matter of health; those three will not remain healthy forever. Sooner rather than later, they will fail to function from lack of energon."

"They are getting more than enough energon!" Starscream snarled, taking a step forward.

Soundwave reached forward and grabbed the younger mech's shoulder. He pulled him back to his side, sending him a mental rebuttal for his stupidity for falling for the obvious taunt. They all knew that they were getting more than enough energon from what they were siphoning off of the sunlight, so there was no reason to let the Autobots goad them into attacking. Starscream gave a small growl of understanding before giving the medic a fierce glare.

Soundwave stepped forward and shook his head. "Do not attempt to goad the Seekers into attacking," he recommended. "Even with your humans assisting you outnumber us, these are their hatchlings and will defend them with their last breath."

Optimus glanced at the other two mechs beside him before looking directly at Prowl. The tactician merely shook his head before he turned to look at his brother. Smokescreen was making a fuss over something and wiggling in an attempt to get away. Barricade set him down on the ground, his red optics narrowed as the hatchling started to totter across the floor. Carnage watched as he waddled by, clicking and squeaking, and made his way over to Prowl slowly. The Autobots watched the hatchling with a sickening satisfaction until Smokescreen walked right past Prowl and fell against Jazz's leg, giggling and squealing while pawing at her.

Jazz, hating that she had just been brought into the open, tried to wiggle him onto Prowl's leg. Smokescreen, however, was stubborn and refused to let go, looking up at her with his huge red optics and a trembling lip. Valerie had to sit on Jazz's back to keep from being seen, her mouth pressed into her palm to stop herself from laughing. Jazz let out a low sigh before bending down to pick Smokescreen up, letting him snuggle against her chassis as she held him securely. Judging by the way she was acting, Optimus and the others were either not happy with her existence or they were not aware that she was alive.

"Is that…Jazz?" Ironhide demanded before he stormed over. "Where the slag have you been?!"

Jazz winced before stepping behind Prowl more, ducking her head and mumbling something incomprehensible. Ironhide tried to reach around Prowl, who was suddenly on the defense, only to wind up backing away with a yelp of pain. Energon welled up where Jazz's sword had pierced the armor on his arm and he gawked at it for a moment before turning to face the two Autobots. Prowl was starting to push Jazz towards the wall, his blue optics hardened as Ironhide prepared to lunge at them. Soundwave let out a warning growl before the black mech charged forward and bowled Prowl over, sending both he and Jazz to the ground, Smokescreen and Valerie letting out shouts of distress.

"Smokescreen!" Barricade shouted before rushing forward.

"Valerie!" Carnage yelped before rushing after him, her red optics wide in fright.

Ironhide was grappling with Prowl on the ground, the latter trying desperately to keep his back off of Jazz as she lay curled up under him. Smokescreen was letting out squeals of distress, each one making the already high-strung Seekers go crazy. Barricade ripped Ironhide off of his brother, snarling in rage as the two of them stood shoulder to shoulder as Jazz gathered her feet under her and bolted across the room. Optimus went to move, but Starscream fired a warning shot at his feet, snarling at him to remain where he was as Jazz hid behind Skywarp. Carnage moved the hatchlings behind the Seekers and stood up to get a closer look at the two figures that Jazz was clutching to her chest.

Ironhide was staring after Jazz with a stunned look on his face until Prowl took a step forward and slugged the expression off his face. He hit the ground with a thud before glaring at the black mech towering over him, doorwings twitching in rage.

"What is wrong with you two?" Ironhide demanded. "Why's Jazz acting like a terrified sparkling?"

"Perhaps you should ask her that yourself before attacking," Prowl retorted bitterly before turning to face Jazz. "Jazz, you can come out now. Ironhide won't hurt you."

"It's not that I'm worried about him attacking me," Jazz replied as she poked her head around Skywarp's leg, Smokescreen's helm buried in her chassis while Valerie slowly climbed up Skywarp's back to hide better. "I'm more worried about what they'll do when they find out what I am."

"You're…a femme?" Ratchet asked before striding forward with a scanner in hand. "Slaggit Jazz! Where have you been? How long have you been online? It's bad enough you were ripped in half, now you're a femme that has not been kept in check for Primus knows how long!"

"Hey!" Jazz yelped, ducking around Ratchet's arm. "I don't have any viruses and my hardware is up to date!"

"Just let me ease my processor," he grumbled before scanning her, ignoring her whines of protest. "Top condition; you're lucky."

Jazz grumbled about telling him that before pulling away, setting Smokescreen on her hip as he whirled unhappily. She tickled him for a moment before one of the humans fired over her head at Skywarp's shoulder, shouting in shock as she hit the ground and covered the hatchling protectively. Skywarp dodged to the side, his hand closing around Valerie as she tumbled towards the ground. He cursed angrily before aiming at the line of humans, Cybertronian swears pouring from his mouth as his charged his Vulcan cannon.

"Skywarp, stand down!" Soundwave ordered before taking a step forward to stand between the humans and Cybertronians. "Enough games; we need to sort this out now or else we will all suffer."

Everyone looked at him, their eyes and optics filled with fear and aggression, each one wanting to attack the other. He took a moment to compose himself before turning to look Optimus in the optic, his own flaring in frustration behind his visor. The Autobot leader looked just as cross as his soldiers and didn't look like he was in the mood to negotiate anymore. He let an irritated sigh escape him before he straightened to his full height.

"Many things have happened in the short time between Valerie falling into our nursery and your arrival," he stated.

"Valerie's dead," Optimus stated coldly. "In case you haven't noticed, Decepticon, there is a large puddle of blood on the ground."

"Notice the lack of a body!" Carnage called, her tail flicking as she held Thrust down on her lap. "Notice that there are no bones, flesh, organs, or _anything_."

Optimus shot her a glare before crossing his arms. "Then where is she, Decepticon?"

"Carnage," she replied before snorting. "Remember the name and learn to fear it. Anyways," she flicked her tail at Valerie as she stood on Skywarp's hand and tried to catch Prowl's attention, "she's up there. Blame Bluestreak."

The Autobots all stared at her before Valerie laughed weakly and waved. Prowl moved forward and let her jump onto his shoulder, resting a hand on her side as she wobbled slightly. The Autobots blinked once before looking at Prowl for an explanation. He sighed before launching into a simple explanation of how different sparks of deceased soldiers were settling into human hosts and whenever the human died, the Cybertronian somehow managed to morph the body to a Cybertronian protoform. Then, either the human survived and they shared the body, or the human died and left the Cybertronian behind to control the shell.

Optimus looked at Valerie for a moment before shaking his head. "How can the human survive if they died?" he asked.

"Very carefully," Carnage replied with a smirk.

Optimus glared down at her for a moment before understanding dawned in his optics. "Ah, it makes sense now," he murmured. "Caraden didn't die, did she?"

Carnage purred in amusement as Soundwave nodded. "No, Caraden and Ravage fused together to form Carnage," he replied. "In the beginning, there was 'Caraden' and 'Ravage' sharing the body and struggling to develop a method that let them control the body on equal terms. Now, they are one being in one body."

"I'm not schizo anymore," Carnage laughed before tapping Thrust's nose. "Don't even think about it, buster."

"But we saw Ravage at the Egyptian battlefield two years ago," Ratchet commented. "Caraden died four years ago."

"We built a suit for her to use that would amplify the qualities that Ravage had," Thundercracker replied. "After Bumblebee ripped her out of the suit, we figured she was better off without it considering she needed to be able to handle the hatchlings with something other than razor-sharp fangs."

Carnage grumbled about it not stopping the hatchlings from biting her, smacking Thrust's nose as he tried to demonstrate. Optimus looked at Ratchet and the pair leant their heads closer and whispered amongst themselves, Ironhide leaning in to put his own opinion in. Their voices never rose above a whisper, but their tense bodies showed that the subject was a touchy one. The Decepticons looked at each other nervously before Optimus stepped forward and addressed Soundwave.

"We know of a much more secure area for you to raise your hatchlings," he stated. "It's located in Central America and in Autobot controlled space; the other Decepticons would not be able to reach you."

"Why would you offer us this?" Starscream hissed.

"This group is not like the other Decepticons," Ratchet replied. "You would rather harvest your own energon as opposed to stealing it. And, considering you did not try to kill Carnage when you learnt of her origins, I can only surmise that you have evolved past petty prejudice."

"So, you think we're turning into Autobots," Skywarp demanded.

"No," Ironhide grunted. "You're about as much an Autobot as I am a dog."

Carnage and Valerie exchanged looked before snickering into their hands. He glanced at his charge and prodded her mind for a moment before smirking behind his face mask. The image of a small golden Chihuahua peeing on Ironhide's foot swam in front of his optics for a moment before vanishing. He nodded his agreement to Ironhide's statement.

"But that does not explain why you wish to give us this land," he commented.

"You want somewhere secluded to raise the hatchlings," Optimus stated before looking around. "That is why you came this far north to escape us. We will give you enough room away from human interference to raise your hatchlings, provided you remain out of the Decepticon activities that are sapping Earth's resources."

"We haven't exactly been on good terms since we came up here," Starscream grumbled before snorting. "I'm not turning this offer down; if it's warm and sunny where I can fly around without slagging ice getting in my turbines, I'm all for it."

"I second that!" Skywarp cheered before scooping Ramjet up. "What'da say, Rammy? Wanna go somewhere nice and warm?"

"Yah!" Ramjet squealed, throwing his arms in the air. "I wanna wun awound fwee!"

Everyone, including the humans, chuckled at the hatchling's antics. Thundercracker agreed to leave as well, letting Dirge have his say before laughing as his hatchlings looked at the ground and kicked it and waved good-bye. Carnage looked down at Thrust and nodded before stretching out on her stomach and purring about sunbathing, the hatchling mimicking her with a whirl of contentment. Barricade grumbled about having to head back down south again, but wasn't against the idea since Smokescreen obviously had chosen Jazz as his femme guardian. Soundwave turned back to Optimus and gave him the affirmative.

"We will get you clearance," Optimus stated. "If you'll follow us back to base," he looked up at the ceiling in midsentence and pursed his lips to the side.

"We have a shaft leading to the surface," Starscream chuckled before pointing over Prime's shoulder. "Just over there."

"Couldn't have mentioned that sooner?" Ironhide demanded.

"You never asked," Carnage replied before stretching and standing up, swinging Thrust onto her back and looping her arms around his legs. "What'da say, sweetspark? Shall we go see what's up top?"

"Yah!"

She smiled before walking forward, leading the line of humans to the shaft. Camren chuckled about not thinking Caraden would be that good with kids before glancing up at Soundwave. The Communications Officer glanced down at him and almost jumped in surprise. Instead of a human standing where Camren was, a perfect replica of his brother was standing in his place. Blackout smirked before Camren reappeared and strolled after his niece. Prowl moved past with Valerie on his shoulder and he cleared his throat to get his attention.

"Keep an optic on any of the humans that have a Cybertronian spark within them," he stated quietly. "I want to know if _any_ Decepticons turn up."

"I'll do my best," Prowl replied before shaking his head. "I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of the rebirth of our race."

"Is it a rebirth?" Valerie asked before frowning. "Or is it just…resurrection?"

"Either way, our numbers will swell," Jazz replied as she walked over and leant on Prowl's arm, nuzzling her face into his chest. "And judging by the lack of choosing the same sex as a host, we're gunna get a lot of weird pairings."

"What are you talking about?" Starscream demanded as he leant over her and smirked. "I thought you and Prowl were together since forever."

"Oh slag off," Jazz laughed before sticking her glossa out. "Go back to hitting on your trine mates."

"Now that is just disgusting," Starscream snorted before smirking. "But highly entertaining."

Soundwave groaned before cuffing his sister over the head. Great, now he was going to have to listen to those three exchange comments over their frequency the entire trip. Jazz was such a pain in the aft sometimes.

**Author's note:** And that's the second last chapter. One more and then this one will be over.


	14. The End

Chapter 14 The End

Soft winds blew through the lush jungle trees, rustling the leaves and casting shade across the blue armor of a large mech. Soundwave was recharging peacefully under the shade of a large palm tree, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. There was a bird call far off into the jungle, momentarily rousing him from his recharge, before a loud shout caught his attention.

"Round-house kick!"

"Ha! Gotta do better than that, Dirge!"

He smirked as he watched the two hatchlings spar with each other by the river some fifty feet away. They were easily fifteen feet tall now, growing quickly as all hatchlings did, and were quickly becoming a handful. At fourteen Earth years old, they were rowdy and rambunctious, disturbing the entire settlement during one of their many sparing matches. The Decepticons would laugh about it, give them a cuff over the head, and send them off to be destructive somewhere else. The Autobots that were living with them often were in a state of panic, thinking that they had to rush in and tear the two apart before they killed each other. More than once the two "brothers" would look at them in confusion and ask what they were doing wrong.

Sitting up and resting an arm on his knee, Soundwave observed the two Seekers as they exchanged blow for blow. By the looks of it, they were seeing who could push the other one into the river first. They didn't seem to be doing any real damage to each other, just minor dings that could be straightened out afterwards. If it started to get to rough, he'd intervene. Until then, he didn't see the harm in letting them sort themselves out. They had to know which one of them would end up having more rank when they were adults since all three hatchlings would probably end up forming a trine of their own.

With a holler, Ramjet lunged at Dirge, fist pulled back to box him around the audios. Dirge side-stepped him and tripped him into the river. The white hatchling let out a shout of shock as he floundered in the water for a minute before glaring up at Dirge. The blue hatchling grinned down at him and waved, sticking his glossa out to mock him.

"That's cheating, Dirge!" Ramjet shouted before hauling himself out of the river.

"No it's not!" Dirge replied.

"Yes it is!" Ramjet snapped before lunging for him.

"Enough," Soundwave stated calmly as he stood up, towering over the two mechs. "Winner; Dirge."

Dirge shot his brother a grin before walking off, his head tilted back with a slag-eating grin on his face. Ramjet let out a holler before charging after him, shouting about getting him next time. Dirge took off running and shouted over his shoulder that he was better than him. Soundwave chuckled and shook his head, wondering where those two got all their energy from. He headed down the river, walking along the bank carefully since it was notorious for giving way underfoot, and back towards the human base.

Not long after Optimus had allowed them to live there, the humans had built a base to keep an eye on them. A few of the younger Autobots were assigned there as well, informed that the Decepticons ultimately had final say in anything that happened there concerning their hatchlings and to not provoke them unnecessarily. The young 'Bots were good with keeping their opinions to themselves, only needing to be roughed up once or twice for doing something they really shouldn't have. When it came down to it, they were a good lot to have around, always relating some funny story about a fight that the Decepticons had lost on a raid.

He glanced up and smirked as black armor shimmered in the high noon sunlight, reflecting the sunlight back at a forty degree angle. Carnage was well over twenty feet tall now and had matured rapidly under the pressure of raising hatchlings. She was one of the few Decepticons that the Autobots respected enough not to bother; of course, the fact that she almost tore Ironhide's arm off when he had tried to grab Dirge when they had been resting probably had a bigger impact on them. She was as protective as ever over the hatchlings, even though they were quickly becoming more than able to defend themselves. There was a flash of red armor before Thrust rolled over and started sunning his front beside his mother.

"Aren't you two getting oddly lazy?" he asked before he leant over Carnage's body, earning a grumble as she tilted her head to the side to glare at him.

"No, it's called sunbathing; I'm saving you all a little energon," she replied before yawning. "And it's only noon; I've got another hour before I'm needed for anything."

He smirked before shaking his head and easily picking her up. She let out a shout of protest before glaring at him and wiggling out of his grip. She landed on all fours and gave herself a rough shake, grumbling about over-glorified satellites before straightening up. She flicked her tail and Thrust got up quickly, his growing wings twitching before he stood beside her and looked up at him curiously.

"Why'd you make us move?" he asked.

Soundwave shook his head before tilting his head to the side and letting the jungle noises sweep over him. He could hear the bird calls from earlier, the sound of the river rushing behind him towards the ocean many miles away, and the wind caressing the trees. Those were not the noises that interested him though; he was looking for something much different. He found the noise he was looking for fast enough and grinned behind his facemask; jet engines, moving fast and coming in low.

"Your father is homebound," he replied before turning and walking down the riverbank.

"That means he has new humans!" Thrust trilled before chasing after him. "Are these ones going to become Cybertronians too? Are they, Soundwave?"

"Perhaps," he replied. "It is hard to tell at first glance."

"I hope they are," he went on. "It would be nice to see new faces. And maybe they'll be Decepticons this time. I'd like to meet more of them than the Autobot ones."

"Sam and Mikaela have never done you any harm," Carnage scolded as she walked beside him, looking down at him with narrowed optics. "Nor has Miles or Valkyrie."

"I know," he replied before giving her his spark-melting optics. "But they don't like the way I play. Mikalea always yells at me when I try to get Moonracer to spar with me."

"I should think so!" Carnage replied before shaking her head. "Fighting with your brothers is fine, but fighting with a sparkling? Thrust, use your head!"

He blinked at her in shock, obviously expecting her to baby him, before frowning and looking at his feet. "She isn't that helpless," he grumbled.

Sighing, Carnage reached over and stroked his head. "Still, Thrust, remember how defensive I got whenever you sparred with your father or Soundwave," she murmured. "You probably almost gave Mikaela a heart-attack. She only has Flare-up's memories to go on and she was an Autobot."

Thrust nodded before lifting his head to look at her. "I'll stick to fighting my brothers," he stated before grinning widely. "Unless Sam wants to fight!"

"Sam's a wuss," she laughed before purring in amusement. "I so much as flick my tail and he's cowering in the corner."

Soundwave chuckled softly before he turned to look at the airbase sitting innocently in the middle of the jungle. Numerous jets and helicopters were strewn about, human rushing around in routine check-ups. A few glanced over and waved at them, alerting the higher-ups of their presence with their movements. Lennox glanced over from where he was talking with one of the newer recruits and nodded respectfully before going back to the young man in front of him. The young man was gawking at them enough that Lennox actually laughed and waved to them.

"Hey, Soundwave, Carnage, could you come here for a second?" he called.

Soundwave turned and walked over to him, mentally laughing as the young man took a step backwards in fear. Carnage went streaking past him on all fours, sliding to a halt in front of the young man with her face pressing in close to him. He leapt backwards with a shout of shock, his hand flying for his gun before she sat back with a laugh.

"Where'd you pick this guy up?" she asked before flicking her tail from one side to the other as some of the older soldiers that had been on base longer laughed. "Jumpier than a hare!"

"This is Gilbert Henderson," Lennox introduced before beckoning the young man closer. "Carnage won't hurt you; she use to be a human."

"Oh!" Henderson yelped before looking at her curiously. "Who was her guardian?"

"Soundwave," she replied, pointing at him. "I never had one of those push-overs as a guardian; what kinda girl do you take me for?"

Henderson blinked at her several times before Lennox motioned towards Soundwave. "This is Soundwave; he's almost top dog around here," he explained. "Stay on his good side and he will save you if you piss off Starscream. Get on his bad side...he'll squish you before Screamer gets a chance to."

Carnage purred her amusement before Thrust clicked nervously, shuffling behind Soundwave. Soundwave reached back and stroked his head gently before Lennox chuckled.

"And this is Thrust; he's one of the youngest hatchlings on base," Lennox stated. "He Starscream's and Carnage's; no, they did not make him together. However, both will equally rip you open if you try to hurt him."

"He's fifteen feet tall; I'm not messing with that!"

"Good answer," Soundwave snorted before glancing around. "Lennox, if this human is new, where is Starscream?"

"He flew off to track down Sam; he wandered off again and got lost," he replied.

"He needs to start using a map," Carnage grumbled before flicking her tail around.

Loud engines roared across the airfield before two Pontiac Solstices came tearing across the tarmac. Henderson jumped in surprise while the rest of them let out hollers for them to go faster. The grey one revved its engine before they both swung their bumpers around to do donuts. Smoke rose from around their tires before the metal started to shift. In a manner of seconds, two femmes were break-dancing on the tarmac, earning cheers from the soldiers. Both femmes leant on each other and grinned at each other, panting heavily before doubling over with laughter.

"Whoo!"

"Three seconds off the last record!"

"You two are keeping track?" Carnage laughed before walking over. "Nice synchronizing though."

Both femmes laughed before they leant on each other's shoulder, grinning widely. Jazz winked at her before hugging the other femme tightly, earning a soft squeak. It was not very often that Jazz came to visit, almost all of her old duties piled on her head the moment she returned to the Autobots. Even though she was technically supposed to assist Barricade raise Smokescreen, she hardly ever got any time to see him. The other femme looked similar to Prowl and Barricade, sporting a grey and red paintjob, with small doorwings on her back.

"Hey Caraden," she greeted before pulling away from Jazz to look adoringly at Thrust. "Hey Thrust, how're feeling?"

"Fine, Auntie," he replied with a smile. "It's good to see you too, Jazz."

Jazz laughed before walking over and hugging the red mech. "Aw, you really are a darling," she laughed before grinning at Soundwave. "Bet you learnt that from Big Blue, huh?"

Thrust grinned before the other femme and Carnage hugged. "It's good to see you, Valkyrie," she stated before she looked at the sky. "I don't suppose Camren...?"

"He's chasing after Starscream in search of Sam," she replied before giggling. "It's funny really; you'd think he'd have a better idea where everything is after being here for three years."

They laughed before jet engines attracted their attention. They looked up as three F-22 Raptors flew by overhead, circling once before heading for the ground. Humans darted out of the way as the three jets transformed and Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp landed on the ground, shaking themselves off while muttering amongst themselves. Helicopter blades beat the air before a small search and rescue chopper landed, unfolding to reveal a mech that looked almost identical to what Blackout did. The mech crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head as a red Camaro with black racing stripes drove up and transformed.

"Do us a favour, Sam," the chopper snorted, "get a damn map of the place."

Sam bowed his head and rubbed the back of it in embarrassment. A loud cry of relief rose up before a red and grey femme came tearing across the tarmac and threw herself onto Sam, a sparkling squealing and clicking angrily in her arms. The Decepticons sneered at her back before getting tackled by their own hatchlings, smiling as they nuzzled and clicked to them. The hatchlings demanded to know what they were doing now that Sam was found and the Elite Trine looked at each other with smirks before taking off. Carnage shouted after them that they had better not drop the hatchlings before sighing and shaking her head.

"Seekers," she grumbled.

Soundwave chuckled at her before he noticed a few of the humans stepping back again, waving their arms over their head in deliberate patterns. He tipped his head back and watched the small convoy of helicopters head slowly for them, their blades spinning loose leaves around as they skimmed over the treetops. The humans backed up more as the helicopters turned and wiggled their way down to land, sending winds whipping up high enough to tickle the bottom of his chin. The blades stopped spinning as several figures in suits jumped out, flashing papers to the other humans before they made their way over to Lennox.

Starscream landed not far away and gave the humans curious looks as a couple raced over to Sam and Mikaela wailing about something or other. Carnage shook her head at the antics before Lennox motioned for her attention, his face hard as rock.

"Alright, we have a slight problem," he started to say before Starscream cut him off.

"Spar us the semantics, human," he snapped before glaring at the suited humans. "What are they doing here?"

Lennox shook his head at Starscream's lack of patience before sighing. "We've got a problem with the government."

"Surprise, surprise," Carnage grumbled before shifting around, her tail blade snapping up to rest on her shoulder so that the humans could see it and the subtle threat that it posed. "What's the problem with them _this_ time?"

"Considering that this airbase is property of the United States Military, we are concerned about your loyalties," one man stated, sneering up at her over his glasses.

"We're loyal to the Autobots," Valkyrie stated. "You know that."

"You are; they are not," the man replied, pointing at Starscream.

"Well no shit there, Sherlock," Carnage muttered before leaning on Soundwave's hip. "What do you expect?"

The man glared at her before Lennox stepped forward and gave him a warning look. She smirked triumphantly as the man stepped back with a grumble, his beady eyes darting from one Decepticon to the other.

"Excuse my colleague," an old man stated before stepping forward. "Keller, Secretary of Defence." Carnage dipped her head respectfully to him while Soundwave merely let out a low hum of acknowledgement. "We're just worried that by giving you asylum down here that we are actually letting a potential danger to Earth prosper."

Soundwave and Starscream exchanged worried glances. This question had been plaguing them both for the last ten years, ever since they had arrived. They still held the name "Decepticon" but were they really that anymore? They accepted help from the Autobots, let the humans; a horribly inferior species; control where they went, and were not at war with anyone. Were they even Decepticons anymore? Was Megatron searching for them with a warrant for their deaths? Considering the Autobots told them nothing in terms of the war, it was impossible to know.

"Worry; unneeded," he droned out. "Decepticons; inactive."

"That doesn't mean that we can trust you!" the spectacled man snapped.

Carnage snarled at him while Starscream leant over the group and let out a low snarl. Everyone but Lennox flinched backwards, military men lifting their guns up to ward the large Seeker off. Starscream spat on the ground beside the spectacled man before drawing back, running a claw over Thrust's helm as he poked his head around his leg curiously. Ramjet and Dirge clicked beside Thrust, looking at each other and whispering quietly amongst themselves.

"What are they saying?" the spectacled man demanded.

"Just wondering who you are," Valkyrie replied before smiling. "They really are curious little things. And aren't they just adorable? Honestly, I don't think humans could ever make offspring this cute. I can think that because I was human once. A really long time ago. Well not really a long time ago, but long enough to make a difference. Haven't had to eat human food for so long; pizza use to be my favourite but now I get sick at the sight of it and...."

"Val, you're rambling," Jazz teased before punching her shoulder.

Valkyrie clapped her hands over her mouth to stop the verbal vomit, even though her jaw continued to flap for a moment. She narrowed her optics in annoyance before grumbling an apology, looking away quickly. Thundercracker reached over and gave her helm a gentle pat, smiling at her before he returned his attention to the humans. Dirge was gazing at the two of them curiously, his mouth opened as if to ask a question, but Thundercracker let out a hiss to silence him. He ducked his head with a squeak before the humans drew their attention again.

"Uh, yeah, down here," the spectacled man snapped before pointing at them. "Where do your loyalties lie?"

"With ourselves, of course," Starscream replied. "We are not Autobots; we are loyal to our own species first and foremost."

"But are you a threat?" Keller asked.

"No," Starscream replied after a moment. "Not to humans; at least for now."

Soundwave nodded and the two government officials looked at each other for a moment, whispering in low voices. Dirge took that moment to scuttle over and looked nervously over his shoulder as his father followed his movements with his optics. He leant in close to Carnage and shot him a nervous glance out of the corner of his optic.

"Do...do you think that father will take Valkyrie as a mate?" he asked.

Carnage jumped slightly, looking over at the two in question. They were standing close together and they always did seem to find some way to wind up in the same locations. After a moment of thinking, Soundwave realized that the two were almost always together one way or another. He smirked behind his facemask and chuckled softly as his Cassetteicons let out hoots of laughter within him. Thundercracker had been the least likely one of the Trine to ever take a mate mainly because he was so stand-offish, but to think that he had taken a liking in Valkyrie? It was a curveball if they had ever encountered one before.

"He might," Carnage replied before smirking. "I think it'd be cute."

Thundercracker must have caught her remark because he shot her a nasty glare before snorting. Skywarp and Starscream shared a glance before snickering, earning another glare from their trinemate as he spun on them. They quickly reigned themselves in as the humans looked up at them questioningly, stepping away from each other to address them again.

"Well, if you aren't a threat, you won't mind helping us," the spectacled man proclaimed.

'_He keeps talking like that I'm just gonna step on him,'_ Carnage grumbled down the bond.

'_Agreed,'_ Soundwave snorted.

Starscream slammed his fist down beside the man and leered over him. "We will not be ordered around by humans!" he snarled.

The man leapt backwards in surprise, his eyes flying open as a loud yelp left him. Lennox flinched slightly but ordered the armed men to stand down. He turned to the spectacled man and told him that he should have worded his request better, throwing a casual look over his shoulder as he mentioned that Starscream was the touchiest of them all. Starscream sneered at him before drawing away, muttering about humans' stupidity, before Keller stepped forward.

"If you won't mind helping us, we would be very grateful," he stated. "Think of it as payment for letting you stay here unharmed."

Starscream's wings twitched as he sneered again. "We do not kill the humans on this base; is that not payment enough?" he asked bitterly.

"Well, yes," Keller replied before shaking his head. "But we could really use your help."

Starscream and Soundwave exchanged a look before Starscream nodded to him. "We're listening."

Keller nodded before pressing his hands together. "We need surveillance in some remote areas of the globe, areas that NASA satellites and high-tech equipment cannot find," he stated. "It's too dangerous for us to send in our military because we don't know what to expect."

"So, basically, you want us to run kamikaze missions for you," Valkyrie commented before looking at Carnage in disgust. "Don't you just love our government?"

"That's not it, exactly," Keller stated. "The enemy does not have the weapons necessary to harm you; you can withstand even our strongest missiles without so much as a scratch. We want you to go in, gather information for us, and then hand it over to the United States Military."

They all shared a look, muttering back and forth in a mix of Cybertronian and English. The hatchlings wanted to go and Thrust was loudly boasting that he would get more information that his brothers combined. Valkyrie confessed that she had wanted to see the world before she died, which was quickly followed by Thundercracker admitting that he was getting cabin fever and needed to go somewhere farther than the coast. Starscream grumbled that he missed flying around without humans watching every move he made and Skywarp started singing of wide open spaces. Carnage threatened to cuff him over the head if he didn't stop before she agreed with Starscream that she missed being able to go everywhere.

"Then it is unanimous," Soundwave stated before turning to look down at Keller, "we will assist you."

Keller looked relieved and smiled his thanks. "Forgive me for being demanding, but we would like you to help immediately," he explained.

Sam appeared over Valkyrie's shoulder and cleared his voice. "Where to?"

"Iraq," Keller replied.

"Great...I had better not get shot in the ass," Carnage sighed before flicking her tail.

Thrust, Dirge, and Ramjet started begging for an alt mode and, after years of refusing, Starscream let them scan one of the smaller Earth jets that he had stored away in his memory banks. They gazed at their lengthened wings in admiration before jumping into the air and transforming.

"They'll be no living with them now," Thundercracker observed as the hatchlings chased each other around.

They laughed before Sam hugged Mikaela and Moonracer good-bye, planning on accompanying them. Jazz swung her way up onto Soundwave's shoulder and sat there pumping her fist into the air; she was coming too whether they liked it or not. Skywarp asked her what Prowl would think of that and she politely flipped him off, telling him that her bonded had no real say in anything she did.

Soundwave reached up and stroked his sister's head before Keller gave Starscream the coordinates. He explained that they had to get there themselves; no one could know that they were working for the United States government. Valkyrie joked about undercover spy work, laughing as she posed back to back with Carnage in "Charlie's Angels" stances. The others rolled their optics before the Seekers transformed and allowed the femmes to climb up onto them.

"I miss you being smaller," Starscream grumbled as Carnage flattened herself out on top of him. "You were so much lighter back then."

"Are you calling me fat?"

"Yes I am, now shut up and hold on."

Soundwave smirked to himself before he transformed into his satellite mode and managed to blast himself after them. Sam was hanging on tightly to Skywarp's underside while Jazz perched on top, laughing at the ex-human's shouts to slow down.

Times were changing swiftly again for them all, but this wouldn't faze them for long. Fate had an odd way of playing with their lives and making miracles happen. He wasn't sure what would happen now, but he knew one thing; as long as he was needed, by Carnage, his cassettes, or by the other Decepticons, he was going to stick around. After all, he needed them as much as they needed him.

**Author's note:** The end. I hope you enjoyed this story that was supposed to be a one-shot that blew into all of this. Hopefully you laughed lots and didn't mind the path chosen for Caraden. I know you all would have kept her human or something, but really, how long do humans last when something as big as a Transformer is stomping around your backyard?

I'll be updating _Time Jumping _next; there are a few chapters left for it and then I'll be working on the entire _It Takes a Girl_ trilogy. If anyone has any suggestions for the title to the sequel (Energon-based), please send them my way; I really suck at titles for stories _

Thank you everyone for your support and reviews; I enjoy reading each and every one of them.


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